520 Bridge Closure This Weekend (March 9-12)

The State Route 520 Bridge will be closed all weekend for construction, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Demolition crews plan to demolish the old Evergreen Point Road overpass above State Route 520 in Medina, which requires closing the highway and floating bridge between Seattle and Bellevue this weekend.

The old overpass will be replaced by a new, . Traffic was rerouted over the new lid last week.

Once the old two-lane overpass, which was built in 1962, is gone, crews will work on building new concrete supports for the new Evergreen Point Road lidded overpass, which will be completed during the next 18 months, according to the Department of Transportation.

During the closure, drivers will have to find another way across or around Lake Washington from 11 p.m. Friday, March 9, until 5 a.m. Monday, March 12, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

All lanes and ramps will be closed between Montlake Boulevard in Seattle and Interstate 405 in Bellevue. Alternate routes could see traffic delays midday Saturday and Sunday.

Forty-eight huge concrete girders already are in place for the new lidded overpass with another 34 girders to be added in coming months, according to the state. When complete the , said Brian Dobbins, construction engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project.

The Evergreen Point Road lid overpass will be one of three in the SR 520 corridor, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The lids are part of the state's . Improvements include landscaped lids over portions of 520, a wider roadway, increased carpool lanes, a bicycle and pedestrian lane and environmental upgrades. The construction between Evergreen Point Road to east of 108th Avenue NE in Bellevue will cost $306 million.

The  will incorporate a park and ride, a bus stop, and green space, at the place where there is currently a two-lane overpass. The other two overpasses are at 84th Avenue Northeast and 92nd Avenue Northeast.

The recently started  will pay for some of the construction costs of the highway.

WSDOT Tips for Getting Around

SR 520 closure details at a glance

• Mainline SR 520 and all connected ramps between Montlake Boulevard in Seattle and I-405 in Bellevue will be closed from 11 p.m. Friday, March 9, to 5 a.m. Monday, March 12.
• The 108th Avenue Northeast on-ramp to eastbound SR 520 will remain open to traffic.
• Two sections of SR 520 will remain open to traffic: I-5 to Montlake Boulevard and areas east of I-405.

While SR 520 is closed for the weekend, traffic is expected to be heavy midday Saturday and Sunday on I-5 and I-90 heading into Seattle and on I-405 approaching I-90. The express lane schedules will change this weekend on I-90 to maintain traffic flow.

Closure information and detour maps are online. Night work is planned, so residents near the work zone likely will hear construction noise. Weekend closure details are available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/WeekendClosures.

Special I-90 express lane operations

Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11

• The I-90 express lanes will be open westbound from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and eastbound after 3 p.m. both days this weekend.

The typical express lane schedule is posted online, as well as this weekend’s altered schedule. Key alternate routes for drivers heading to Seattle from the south King County include State Routes 509 and 599, East Marginal Way South, Airport Way South and Fourth Avenue South. Express lane details are available online at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Northwest/King/ExpressLanes/SpecialEvents.

SR 520 Eastside project overview

The Eastside Transit and HOV Project is widening SR 520 to six lanes between Medina and Bellevue. Crews are rebuilding interchanges, constructing highway lids and bus stops in the center of the highway and installing fish-passable culverts. WSDOT awarded a $306-million design-build contract to Eastside Corridor Constructors, a joint venture of Granite Construction Company and PCL Construction Services.

Full closures of SR 520 for construction are limited during the next two years. The completed Medina-Bellevue corridor is scheduled to open to traffic in December 2013.

Tools for drivers

• Seattle area traffic: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle
• Traffic cameras: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic
• Travel alerts: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/trafficalerts
• Traffic products for your mobile phone and other wireless devices: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/products
• Follow WSDOT on Twitter: @wsdot and @wsdot_traffic for Puget Sound traffic.
• Call 511 for traffic updates.
• Tune to highway advisory radio and watch electronic highway signs for information.

More information about the SR 520 Eastside project is online at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/MedinaTo202.

-- Information from the Washington State Department of Transportation