Tag Archives: 520

Don’t let new 520 bike/walk bridge get lost in the Montlake Lid’s sea of cars — Opening celebration Saturday

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The bridge crosses 520 just east of the new lid (Image: Washington State Department of Transportation)

Saturday, the Washington State Department of Transportation is inviting you to “walk/roll” across the ready-to-open bike and pedestrian bridge crossing the newly expanded SR-520 just east of the pretty much completed Montlake lid.

It’s understandable if you weren’t aware of a ready-to-open bike and pedestrian bridge crossing the newly expanded 520 just east of the pretty much completed Montlake lid. The $455.3 million Montlake Project to expand the freeway and lid it is a pretty car-forward project as it finally reaches completion after years of construction. The snarl of criss-crossing traffic lanes interconnecting with 24th Ave on the lid is bigger and busier than ever.

The pedestrian/bicyclist bridge just east of the new lid will provide some counterbalance to that motor vehicle snarl. It provides a north-south connection across the freeway for walkers and rollers only and connects to the SR 520 Trail, Bill Dawson Trail, or along Lake Washington Boulevard via the Montlake Lid. Continue reading →

Good vibrations? WSDOT says construction underway for seven-year 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid project

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Design concept for a new bridge over Portage Bay

Just as the Montlake Lid project is laying down its final layers of landscaping bark, the Washington Department of Transportation says construction began this week for SR-520’s Roanoke Lid and Portage Bay Bridge project:

Beginning the week of Nov. 4, crews will start piledriving in Portage Bay to build the temporary work trestle and future westbound Portage Bay bridge. A work trestle is essentially a temporary platform that crews need to build so they can construct the permanent bridge. This will be the first of six piledriving “seasons” allowed on this project. Each season lasts from September through April. This first season – from November 2024 through April 2025 – will be the most significant season of impact piledriving work. The following seasons will have less piledriving – and some seasons may not drive piles at all.

The bridge work is a long process. The state says crews will use two methods to install or “drive” the piles. The first method uses a vibratory hammer to “vibrate” the piles into the bottom of the bay. The second method uses an impact hammer to strike the piles like a hammer into the base of the bay: Continue reading →

WSDOT holding open house on 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke lid construction

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The Washington State Department of Transportation is holding an open house both in-person and online to provide information about the project schedule and construction details around the SR 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project that will create a new Portage Bay Bridge and a lid connecting the Roanoke neighborhood over the highway: Continue reading →

Montlake’s Ramps to Nowhere are gone — but plans for a memorial park to Seattle’s ‘Freeway Revolt’ live on

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The project to replace and expand SR-520 will end — eventually — with a new park space recognizing the community effort that stopped a freeway expansion 50 years ago that would have ripped a hole through the Central District and neighborhoods from Montlake to Madison Valley to Leschi.

Representatives from the group Seattle ARCH — Activists Remembered, Celebrated, and Honored — gathered over the weekend where the much-loved “Ramps to Nowhere” have been dismantled as part of the 520 expansion project to recognize a new effort they hope will help the city remember the community that came together in a “Freeway Revolt” to stop the R.H. Thomson Expressway, a 15-mile roadway that would have stretched from the Duwamish to Bothell through the heart of Seattle through the Central District.

“We are really here to recognize an extraordinary moment of Seattle history over 50 years ago and it’s not about any individual,” organizer Kenan Block said Saturday. “It was an astounding moment of citizen activism where the Black Panthers and the gray haired Seattle Garden Club ladies linked arm and arm as neighbors, and, again against all odds, they killed the RH Thompson Expressway.” Continue reading →

Last day to provide feedback on coming 520 toll increases

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(Image: WSDOT)

As it sorts out how to pay for a $1.4 billion contract 70% above what it hoped to pay for the final portion of the multiyear 520 bridge replacement project, the state wants to know your thoughts on the best way to institute higher tolls to use the highway.

Wednesday, May 1st, is the final day to take the Washington State Transportation Commission survey:

The commission must adjust rates this summer to generate the revenue required for Washington state to meet its legal and financial obligations on the bridge. As commissioners determine the details of the rate changes, they’re looking for feedback from the public on the different options for adjusting the tolls throughout the weekdays and weekends. The online survey is open until Wednesday, May 1.

The 520 bridge is tolled in both directions with prices changing based on the time of day based on demand.

The survey covers two options for putting a boost into place that would either make for a more complicated schedule that would reward drivers for picking less busy times and days to cross (Option A) or sticking to a simpler, more uniform approach with fewer variations (Option B): Continue reading →

$1.4B Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project moving forward with order to identify ‘cost reduction opportunities’

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Design concept for a new bridge over Portage Bay

An early rendering of the Roanoke Lid concept

Washington is moving forward with the 520 Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project even as it is still scrambling for the best way to pay for it.

WSDOT announced it awarded a contract for the job to Skanska on March 11th.

CHS reported in November on the $1.375 billion price proposal from Skanska for the contract — a bid 70% higher than the state’s estimate. An agreement with Skanska extended the window to accept the bid, giving Washington legislators “more time to address the funding gap” during its just-wrapped budget process, WSDOT says.

The new plan? Move forward with the $1.375 billion bid but find a way to cut costs and close the gap. WSDOT says legislators have ordered it to seek “cost reduction opportunities.” That could mean new, scaled back designs for the planned lid and new bridge. Continue reading →

WSDOT scrambling over $1.4B bid for 520 Portage Bay Bridge/Roanoke Lid project — 70% higher than expected

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(Image: CHS)

There is a new $1.4 billion price tag — and likely a new timeline — for the work on the westermost section of the 520 replacement project including a new Portage Bay Bridge and a lid connecting the Roanoke neighborhood over the highway.

State officials say the winning best bid from contractor Skanska is about 70% higher than what Washington State Department of Transportation planners were budgeting for and are now asking to extend expiration of the bid to give the legislature to somehow come up with extra hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for the project.

“With the support of the Governor’s office and transportation legislative leadership, we have begun negotiations with Skanska to extend their proposal validity through the end of the 2024 legislative session on March 7 (it was previously set to expire on Nov. 20, 2023),” WSDOT said in a statement on the bid. “We will continue to keep you updated once we have finalized a path forward.” Continue reading →

‘Feedback from neighbors’ halts work on massive Montlake sign bridges

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Work on a small — but surprisingly imposing — component of the $455.3 million Highway 520 project have come to a halt over neighbor complaints about new, oddly-looming sign bridges.

The Washington State Department of Transportation says crews have paused installation after two of the three massive structures were put in place and generated immediate complaints.

“We have received feedback from neighbors about the sign bridges and have paused installation of a third sign bridge pending additional community input,” WSDOT said about the situation. “It’s important to note the project area is still under construction.” Continue reading →

520 Montlake Project will bring weekend bridge closures for cars, 10-day boulevard shutdown

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WSDOT’s “Construction Corner” is a handy way to keep track of closures

The next few weeks will bring some traffic challenges around 520 as the Washington Department of Transportation project to replace the highway and add a new Montlake lid will require prolonged closures in the area.

WSDOT says starting the night of Friday, July 14th, Montlake Blvd will be closed to motor vehicles for ten days as crews complete utility work and realign the Boulevard and the eastbound on-ramp to SR 520 onto the newly constructed bridge. All associated 520 on-and off-ramps for Montlake Blvd will be closed during this time as well. WSDOT says a signed bicycle and pedestrian route through the work area during the closure. Continue reading →

WSDOT: Final girders placed as project to create new Montlake Lid and replace western portion of 520 bridge on track for end of year completion

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(Image: WSDOT)

(Image: WSDOT)

WSDOT is celebrating a milestone with the final placement of huge steel girders as it prepares for work on the “Montlake Project” to create an improved Montlake Blvd interchange, a landscaped lid over 520, a bicycle and pedestrian “land bridge” east of the lid, and a three-lane West Approach Bridge South over Union Bay for eastbound traffic to wrap up construction by the end of the year. Continue reading →