If your weekend plans might include crossing Lake Washington, you'd better chart another route: The 520 bridge will be closed all weekend, says the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Those planning to cross the Snoqualmie Pass on Saturday will catch a break, however, as a planned closure to remove rock has been canceled, though it may be rescheduled for Sunday morning, Sept. 23.
The 520 closure is slated to start at 11 p.m. Friday and will continue through 5 a.m. Monday, when commuters may notice that the westbound State Route 520 lanes will be shifted northward.
According to the WSDOT, the activities this weekend include: Seattle Mariners and Sounders games in SODO, a gymnastics show at Key Arena and the St. Demetrios Greek Festival in the Montlake neighborhood.
Crews plan to install a fish-friendly culvert beneath all lanes of SR 520 near 108th Avenue Northeast in Bellevue, among other work, according to the state. The work includes cutting a 30-foot-deep trench across the highway, lowering in 22 concrete segments weighing as much as 53,000 pounds each, fill the trench and repave the road by 5 a.m. Monday.
“Crews have already installed four fish-friendly culverts beneath all lanes of SR 520 since the project began and have the process down to a science,” said Brian Dobbins, construction manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project in a prepared statement. “They are also packing in as much work as possible elsewhere on the project to take advantage of the closure and dry weather.”
According to WSDOT, the I-90 express lanes will remain westbound from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 then switch to eastbound by 8:30 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 23 the lanes will be westbound from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and eastbound by 3 p.m.
Closure information and detour maps are online. Night work is planned, so residents near the work zone likely will hear construction noise, the WSDOT reported.
WSDOT said the Snoqualmie scheduled closure has been canceled because "thousands of drivers will be heading over Snoqualmie Pass this weekend for a number of events across the state.
"The Washington State Department of Transportation and contractor crews are currently evaluating when the next best day and time will be to close the pass for rock removal. WSDOT is looking into potentially closing Sunday morning, Sept. 23."
-- Information from the Washington State Department of Transportation
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How will you find your way through these construction messes? Or will you just stay on the Eastside? Please tell us in the comments field!
