SR 520 closing this weekend for bridge inspection

State Route 520 will close to traffic this weekend for the last annual inspection of the highway’s 52-year-old floating bridge. Contractor crews for the Washington State Department of Transportation also will take advantage of the road closure to conduct construction work on the new SR 520 floating bridge and its connecting highway.

Crews will close both directions of SR 520 and ramps between 92nd Avenue Northeast and Montlake Boulevard, starting 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14. Lanes and ramps will reopen at noon on Sunday, Aug. 16.

For decades, WSDOT crews have closed the four-lane, cross-lake bridge for one weekend each year to inspect the structure and perform needed maintenance, primarily on its drawspan. The new six-lane floating bridge, with higher navigation channels for boats to pass underneath, won’t have a drawspan.