SEATTLE—Ready for traffic?

A critical phase of construction on the NE 8th Street Bridge in Bellevue will require the HOV lane in both directions on Interstate 405 to close for nine consecutive days beginning January 10. The northbound closure extends from NE 4th to past NE 8th. The southbound HOV closure will be from approximately NE 12th to past NE 8th.

The closure starts at 10 p.m. on January 10 to 5 a.m. on January 20.

The closure is necessary to provide a safe working space in the median for construction crews. They will build a permanent foundation of the north half of the NE 8th Bridge. The foundation, which will be constructed under a portion of the northbound and southbound HOV lanes, will support the permanent bridge structure.

This work is part of the I-405 NE 8th Street interchange reconstruction project, a project that will result in the NE 8th Street overpass being removed and rebuilt. This will provide an additional lane in each direction on NE 8th Street and will allow future expansion of I-405.

This work is part of an expansion project along the I-405 corridor known as Access Downtown.

WSDOT avoided a similar nine-day closure of the HOV lanes last August after Atkinson Construction, the prime contractor, was able to tailor construction techniques and redesign the concrete footing on the south half of the structure to accommodate this unique situation in a confined work area. The earlier work was completed with only nighttime closures. That approach is not possible in this location, and the HOV lanes must be closed to ensure the safety of workers and allow the work to be completed as quickly as possible. Contract incentives are in place to encourage the contractor to finish as quickly as possible.

The NE 8th interchange reconstruction project is part of a $164 million, multi-agency partnership between Sound Transit, City of Bellevue, WSDOT, King County Metro and the Federal Highway Administration. Access Downtown will add a new interchange at Northeast Sixth Street for buses and carpools, giving buses direct access to an expanded Bellevue Transit Center. It will improve freeway interchanges at Northeast Fourth, Northeast Eighth and Southeast Eighth streets.

From Access Washington, January 3