Underpass to Nowhere

Recently, I noticed this strange structure at the corner of 79th and Aurora. Years ago, did an exotic underground metro whisk North Seattle residents to downtown Seattle or uptown Edmonds? 

Sure, it looked like a place to toss your used coffee cups and Snickers wrappers and God knows what else. But perhaps it was actually a portal to another dimension?

I asked Seattle Department of Transportation about this structure and received a timely response:

There was an underpass that allowed pedestrians to get from one side of Aurora to the other. The old Chubby and Tubby* store was a popular destination and sat on the east side of the street at this location. After the store closed, the underpass was rarely used and safety became an issue. The community requested that the City close the tunnel. 

Thanks, SDOT! But do you think the SDOT would tell me even if it was a space-and-time shortcut? If you see me on Mars in the next few weeks, you'll know what's up.


*Wait, what's Chubby and Tubby? Chubby and Tubby was a Seattle-grown variety store. Read more about Chubby and Tubby in this 2002 article from The Seattle Times. Now, the Dollar Tree is in the C&T space. Bah.