• Project overview
• Project news
• Needs and benefits
• TImeline
• Project design
• Funding

Project overview

We are preparing to move forward, in phases, with construction of the remaining improvements to SR 520 in Seattle – what we call the “Rest of the West.” The Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project is one of the major phases in the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program's reconstruction of the highway's west side corridor.

Project news

• We hosted a two-week online open house and a virtual public meeting in September to gather public feedback on three key environmental processes for the Portage Bay project. This summary of public feedback (pdf 476 kb) provides an overview of the three environmental processes and the major comment themes we received from the community. The document also includes a Q&A with WSDOT responses to the major public comments and questions, along with a complete listing of the comments submitted during the online open house. If you missed the Sept. 15 virtual meeting, here is the meeting presentation (pdf 1.7 mb). 

Needs and benefits

The 1960s-era Portage Bay Bridge is nearing the end of its functional life. Supported by hollow concrete columns, the four-lane bridge could fail in a severe earthquake. This project will replace the old bridge with a seismically stronger structure. The project also will extend SR 520’s transit/HOV system from Montlake to I-5 and cross-lake bicycle and pedestrian trail over Portage Bay to a new lid between Delmar Drive East and 10th Avenue East.

The end result

• Two new parallel, three-lane bridges across Portage Bay – one for eastbound traffic, the other for westbound traffic
• Dedicated transit/HOV lanes across Portage Bay between Montlake and I-5
• A landscaped Roanoke lid over SR 520, between 10th Avenue East and Delmar Drive East
• Extension of regional SR 520 Trail from Montlake over Portage Bay to the new Roanoke lid.
• A 30-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian crossing over I-5
• A system to capture and filter highway runoff before it enters local waterways

Project benefits

• Safer travel from replacement of the old, structurally vulnerable Portage Bay Bridge with seismically stronger structures 
• Improved regional mobility with completion of the final stretch of dedicated transit/HOV lanes, in each direction, between Redmond and I-5
• Greater transportation options by completing the regional, cross-lake bicycle/pedestrian path to the new Roanoke lid, and a new, safer shared-use crossing over I-5
• A community-connecting highway lid with landscaped open space
• Improved water quality from a new system for treating SR 520 stormwater runoff
• Fewer traffic backups thanks to wider highway shoulders that allow disabled vehicles to pull over without blocking traffic

Timeline

• 2023: begin construction (estimated)
• 2029: complete construction (estimated)

Project design

We conducted an extensive public engagement process in 2019 to solicit community feedback on conceptual designs for the Portage Bay project. Our published report (pdf 2 mb) on that process summarizes the public’s design ideas for key project elements, and how WSDOT incorporated those ideas into a refined design concept. The report’s appendices (pdf 3.2 mb) contain all the verbatim comments from the community. In addition, our website’s planning-documents webpage contains extensive information about the Seattle Community Design Process and other project-design initiatives and reports. Also, the Seattle Design Commission website contains a November 2019 WSDOT presentation (pdf 18 mb) with design information on the Portage Bay project. Additional design work, with more opportunities for public comment, will occur for future Rest of the West projects. 

Conceptual illustration of a new Portage Bay Bridge, looking east toward Montlake.

Conceptual illustration of a new Portage Bay Bridge, looking southwest.

Conceptual illustration of the three-lane eastbound roadway on a new Portage Bay Bridge.

Conceptual illustration of the shared-use SR 520 Trail on a new Portage Bay Bridge, looking west.

Conceptual illustration of a new shared-use trail, looking west, as it passes under 10th Avenue East and moves onto a new Roanoke lid over SR 520.

Conceptual illustration of a new Roanoke lid over SR 520, with 10th Avenue East in the foreground and a new Portage Bay Bridge in the distance.

Plan view of a new Roanoke lid over SR 520, with the circled letters indicating the location of public viewpoints (shown below).

Plan view of a new, landscaped bicycle and pedestrian crossing over I-5 along the south side of East Roanoke Street.

Funding

This project is part of the remaining $1.6 billion in SR 520 improvements from Lake Washington to I-5 – the “Rest of the West.” These improvements are funded by the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation legislation. For more information on SR 520 funding, visit the Budget and Performance page.