Motorists travelling across State Route 520’s new westbound overpass at 108th Avenue Northeast in Bellevue may see a bit of history – and tons of concrete – disappear this weekend. Crews working on the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Eastside Transit and HOV Project will be demolishing the nearby, decades-old westbound overpass to make room for new transit/HOV lanes.

While all lanes of SR 520 will remain open during the demolition work, 108th Avenue Northeast will be closed for the weekend between Northeast 24th Street and Northup Way. The street closure will last from 11 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. A signed detour route will direct drivers around the work zone.

One week ago, crews with Eastside Corridor Constructors shifted the highway’s westbound lanes onto a newly built overpass above 108th Avenue Northeast.  Once the old overpass is gone, construction crews can proceed to build new transit/HOV ramps there this summer

The Eastside Transit and HOV Project is part of WSDOT’s larger SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program. Between Medina and I-405, crews are widening SR 520 to six lanes, rebuilding interchanges, constructing neighborhood-friendly highway lids, building in-median transit stops for the corridor’s new transit/HOV lanes, and installing fish-friendly culverts beneath the highway. The reconstructed Eastside corridor is expected to open to traffic in late summer 2014.

Up-to-date information about SR 520 highway closures and key construction activity can be found on WSDOT’s SR 520 Orange Page.