Date:  Friday, February 29, 2008

Contact: Hien Trinh, Project Engineer, 425-956-2100 (Bellevue)
Myly Posse, WSDOT Communications, 206-440-4700 (Seattle)

REDMOND – The Washington State Department of Transportation is delivering more good news to Redmond commuters. After the Valentine's Day 2008 opening of an additional lane in each direction of SR 202 between East Lake Sammamish Parkway and Sahalee Way, crews expect to open the new westbound SR 202 to westbound SR 520 flyover ramp this weekend. If weather cooperates, the ramp could open by 8 a.m. Sunday, March 2. The ramp will alleviate a.m. back ups on westbound SR 202 caused by vehicles waiting to turn left at the NE 76th Street signal to enter SR 520.

"Our contractor, Tri State Construction Inc., has done an excellent job of maximizing work during good weather opportunities," said Project Engineer Hien Trinh. "If they don't get much rain this weekend, crews will open the new ramp on Sunday. I expect to hear from happy Redmond commuters come Monday morning, when traffic is moving more efficiently," he said.

Before the new ramp can open to traffic, crews must reconstruct the right lane on westbound SR 202 to connect it to the ramp. This requires paving and striping, which is extremely weather sensitive. To complete the work, crews must close westbound SR 202 tonight, beginning at 10 p.m.

• Beginning at 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 29, crews will close westbound SR 202 between NE 70th Street and SR 520 to finish work necessary to open the new westbound SR 202 to westbound SR 520 ramp. If weather cooperates, crews will open lanes and the new ramp by 8 a.m. Sunday, March 2.
  
• Westbound detour: 180th Avenue NE to NE 76th Street to westbound SR 202; eastbound SR 202 is open.
  

WSDOT engineers plan to convert the double left-turn lanes on westbound SR 202 at NE 76th Street, which drivers are currently using to access westbound SR 520, to a single left-turn lane. They will keep it open for one week, giving drivers a chance to transition to the new ramp.

The new three-lane flyover ramp includes a ramp meter and an HOV lane, which will bypass the meter. When the flyover ramp opens, the ramp meter will not be immediately activated. Traffic engineers will monitor the ramp and turn the meter on when it becomes necessary to manage vehicles merging from the NE 76th street on-ramp to westbound SR 520, or to address congestion on SR 520.

This work is part of the SR 520 West Lake Sammamish Parkway to SR 202 Widening project. Through this $102.3 million project, we will widen SR 520 from two to four lanes in each direction. For more details about the project, please visit the Web site at: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520/WLakeSamPk_SR202/

                                     ###

< Back to News Home