Date:  Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Contact: Stacy Trussler, Eastside Corridor Deputy Director, (425) 456-8563
Steve Peer, WSDOT Communications, (425) 301-2023

BELLEVUE – Drivers have more options for getting around Bellevue thanks to more than $139 million in congestion relief projects wrapped up just before the annual holiday shopping season.

Secretary Paula Hammond, Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger, and a host of local state and federal officials celebrated an easier to drive Bellevue while breaking ground on the next project, the $107.5 million I-405 Bellevue Braids.

“We are seeing real benefits from our ongoing investment in the I-405 Corridor, with faster commutes and less congestion,” said Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary. “Part of our Moving Washington anti-congestion program includes strategically adding capacity and eliminating chokepoints. That’s exactly what we are doing with the Bellevue Braids project which will make the transition from I-405 to SR 520 much easier.”

The new NE 10th Street bridge over I-405, which connects Bellevue’s shopping district to its growing medical district, is expected to improve congestion through the downtown core.

“The NE 10th Street Bridge project represents a genuine partnership with WSDOT. Bellevue built the eastern approach from the city’s growing medical district and WSDOT constructed the bridge from the downtown side,” said Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger. “Thanks to WSDOT, Bellevue has taken a major step to reduce traffic congestion around the medical district, improved access for emergency vehicles and provided a better option for pedestrians.”

The city of Bellevue built the bridge entrance near Overlake Medical Center and Group Health Cooperative and WSDOT built the rest of the $15.7 million bridge, funded by the 2003 and 2005 gas tax increases.

South Bellevue Widening

South of the new NE 10th Street bridge, drivers have enjoyed increased travel speeds of up to 25 mph thanks to new lanes on I-405 between 112th Avenue SE and SE Eighth Street as part of the $124 million project. Just like the NE 10th Street Bridge, this project was paid for by the 2003 and 2005 gas tax increases.

As part of widening project, crews tore down the old Wilburton tunnel last year, allowing them to expand the freeway to six lanes where the tunnel once restricted traffic flow to four. Crews also built a new southbound bridge over I-90 and installed quieter pavement in August.

The Bellevue Braids project

WSDOT also ceremoniously broke ground on the new NE 8th to SR 520 ramps interchange project referred to as the “Bellevue Braids.” It received its name because the new ramps will crisscross each other to get northbound drivers out of Bellevue and east to Redmond or west to Seattle on SR 520.

“Each day 60,000 northbound I-405 vehicles jockey for position in a short span between NE Eighth Street and SR 520” said Kim Henry, Eastside Corridor Director. “Straightening this merge will eliminate the weave and get people to their destinations more quickly.”

Atkinson Construction of Renton, WA submitted the apparent best value proposal of $107.5 million to complete design and construction of the project. Atkinson has already begun final project designs and expects to begin construction in January. The project sped up by six months due to $30 million dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) federal funding and uses the NE 10th Street bridge as an anchor for a ramp travelling directly to SR 520. The ramps are scheduled to be open to traffic by fall 2012.

For more information on the Bellevue Braids Project, please visit: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/i405/NE8thtoSR520/
 

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WSDOT's mission is to keep people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news 
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