#The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has recently updated the design and cost for completing “Rest of the West” state Route 520 improvements in Seattle.
#In collaboration with the City of Seattle and local stakeholders, WSDOT incorporated community recommendations into its updated draft of design concepts for rebuilding the highway between Interstate 5 and Lake Washington.
#Key west-side design features include:
#•A new Portage Bay Bridge between I-5 and Montlake;
#•New HOV lanes from I-5 to Montlake;
#•Highway lids at Montlake Boulevard and 10th Avenue East/Delmar Drive East, with transit facilities;
#•The south half of a new west-approach bridge built to modern seismic standards, for carrying eastbound traffic from Montlake to the new floating bridge;
#•Mobility improvements such as bicycle, pedestrian and transit connections and networks to and from SR 520 to existing and planned city networks, including safer undercrossings; and
#•An extension to I-5 of a regional bicycle and pedestrian path from Seattle to the Eastside, with connections to local trails and transit stops.
#Along with the new design plans, WSDOT updated its cost estimate of $4.47 billion for rebuilding the full SR 520 corridor from I-5 to Interstate 405; that figure is $180 million lower than the $4.65 billion budget cap set by the Legislature in 2009.
#The new estimate includes a cost of $1.57 billion to construct SR 520’s unfunded western segment; a 2012 estimate put that cost at $1.40 billion.