SR 520 to close this weekend for completion of new HOV lanes

Construction crews with the Washington State Department of Transportation’s State Route 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project will be hard at work over the weekend as they put the final touches on new high-occupancy vehicle lanes between Bellevue and Medina. Beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, all SR 520 lanes across Lake Washington will be shut down in both directions between Interstate 405 and Montlake Boulevard for striping of the new lanes and other work.

September 10, 2014 7:10 pm

The following is a release from the Washington State Department of Transportation:

Construction crews with the Washington State Department of Transportation’s State Route 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project will be hard at work over the weekend as they put the final touches on new high-occupancy vehicle lanes between Bellevue and Medina. Beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, all SR 520 lanes across Lake Washington will be shut down in both directions between Interstate 405 and Montlake Boulevard for striping of the new lanes and other work.

“We’re almost done with more than three years of work on the Eastside” said project engineer Mark Allison. “We’ve already opened two new transit stops, paved six new mainline lanes, and on Monday, the HOV lanes will open.”

Weekend work

  • All lanes of SR 520 will close between Montlake Boulevard and I-405 from 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 15.
  • The SR 520 ramps at 92nd Avenue Northeast will close from 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 15to complete paving of a new roundabout interchange.
  • Crews will also close several other SR 520 ramps and local Eastside roads and intersections at various times over the weekend, including 108th Avenue Northeast and 112th Avenue Northeast.
  • There will be no construction closures until after Saturday’s University of Washington football game at Husky Stadium to accommodate fans attending the event.

New HOV lanes

  • When SR 520 opens to drivers on Monday morning, new HOV lanes will be available to three-person carpools as they were before construction began.
  • The lanes span approximately two miles between Bellevue and Medina. This heavily used stretch of SR 520 carries about 70,000 vehicles each weekday. The new floating bridge, when it opens in 2016, will also have HOV lanes.

The opening of the HOV lanes is just one of many upcoming milestones for the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program. The full Eastside Transit and HOV Project, scheduled for completion later this year, also is bringing a new regional bicycle and pedestrian path to the Eastside. In addition, this fall will see completion of the new West Connection Bridge and the start of construction on the West Approach Bridge North Project in Seattle. The 6,100-foot-long approach structure – also with an HOV lane and a bicycle and pedestrian path – will carry westbound traffic from the new floating bridge to the Montlake area.

For information on road closures associated with SR 520 construction, please visit the SR 520 Orange Page and follow us on Twitter: @wsdot_520.