Date:  Monday, August 11, 2008

Contact: Steve Peer, WSDOT Communications, (425) 301-2023 (Bellevue)
Stacy Trussler, Deputy Project Director, South, (206) 437-4870 (Bellevue)

BELLEVUE – WSDOT thanks drivers for using alternate routes to help avoid backups this weekend on I-405 in Bellevue while crews removed a portion of the Wilburton Tunnel.

Last weekend southbound I-405 carried two-thirds fewer vehicles than an average weekend.

Traffic on SR 520 doubled last weekend as drivers used the suggested detour route to avoid southbound I-405 through Bellevue. Other alternate routes that saw increased traffic last weekend included Bellevue city streets such as Bellevue Way, Richards Road and 148th Street.

Regional freeways, like I-5, saw heavier than normal traffic. “We know I-5 is congested on most any weekend,” said WSDOT’s I-405 Construction Manager, Brian Nielsen. “We closed the southbound lanes on one of two major north-south freeways this weekend – I-5 had to carry a lot more traffic. Keeping the express lanes open southbound seemed to help.”

WSDOT needs drivers’ continued help to minimize traffic impacts for the next two weekends, Aug. 15-18 and Aug. 22-25 as crews remove the rest of the Wilburton Tunnel. Southbound I-405 will be closed at 11 p.m. each Friday night and open 5 a.m. each Monday morning. Drivers should call 511, check local media outlets and the WSDOT Web site to plan their trips.

For project information on the I-405, South Bellevue Widening Project please visit: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/i405/112thAvetoSE8th/

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