WSDOT warns drivers busy highway construction season reving up

Late May marks the unofficial kickoff of summer, and with it comes a surge in highway construction. This year’s busy season of road work in the Seattle metropolitan area starts Friday night with a weekend-long closure of all lanes on State Route 520 across Lake Washington.

May 28, 2014 8:36 pm

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

Late May marks the unofficial kickoff of summer, and with it comes a surge in highway construction. This year’s busy season of road work in the Seattle metropolitan area starts Friday night with a weekend-long closure of all lanes on State Route 520 across Lake Washington.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will use the May 30-to-June 2 closure to continue pouring concrete – up to55 truckloads – for the roadway deck on the new West Connection Bridge.

This weekend’s closure is the first of four SR 520 closures planned in the next five weeks. The bridge will remain open the weekend of June 14 to accommodate drivers attending graduation ceremonies at the University of Washington.

Friday, May 30, to Monday, June 2:

  • Crews will close all lanes of SR 520 from Montlake Boulevard to I-405 at 11 p.m.
  • To cross Lake Washington plan to use I-90 or an alternate route around the lake.
  • Crews will install tolling infrastructure and place more than 10,000 tons of asphalt for the Eastside Transit and HOV Project. All lanes are scheduled to reopen in time for the morning commute at 5 a.m. Monday.

Friday, June 6, to Monday, June 9:

A trio of closures will take place the first full weekend in June, all scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. that Friday and conclude by 5 a.m. the following Monday:

  • Both directions of SR 520 will be closed between Montlake Boulevard and I-405 for ongoing bridge work.
  • The two right lanes of northbound Interstate 5 at the West Seattle Freeway will be closed to replace aging expansion joints. Additionally, on Saturday and Sunday only, up to two northbound lanes across the Ship Canal Bridge will be closed 3:30 to11 a.m. and one lane through dusk for pavement repair and guardrail work.
  • Southbound State Route 99 from Denny Way to South Spokane Street will be closed to shift southbound traffic onto a new route through the State Route 99 tunnel project site.

June through August highlights

Many other road construction projects to maintain, repair and preserve vital highway infrastructure get underway this summer on Interstate 5, Interstate 90 and State Route 99.

  • Beginning in July, more than 300 concrete panels will be replaced on I-5 between North 117th Street and State Route 104. The work will require overnight closures of multiple lanes and ramps.
  • Also in July, work to replace two aging expansion joints on westbound I-90 at the East Channel Bridge, between Bellevue and Mercer Island, will close three lanes around the clock for up to seven days.
  • Concrete road panel replacement will require overnight closures of multiple lanes of SR 99 between Spokane Street and the Alaskan Way Viaduct from August until fall.
  • Crews working for WSDOT and Sound Transit have begun work to realign the eastbound I-90 off-ramps to Bellevue Way and I-405 as part of a project to add HOV lanes to I-90 between Seattle and Bellevue. This stage of work will require around-the-clock closures of the eastbound off-ramps to Bellevue Way and I-405 later this summer.