Interstate 90 Express Lanes Will Change: No Westbound Exit to Mercer Island After Monday

The westbound link from Bellevue to Mercer Island on the Interstate 90 Express Lanes will be no more, as the express lane off-ramps in the westbound direction will skip Mercer Island starting Monday, according to a Washington State Department of Transportation press release.

Cars, buses and vanpools that get on the westbound express lanes in the morning in Bellevue will have no exit to Mercer Island, after the construction is complete, according ot the state.

On Monday, Jan. 23, the express lanes access ramp at 80th Avenue Southeast in Mercer Island will close for up to four weeks and will reopen to new eastbound HOV lanes on the main part of the highway, the state reported.

The existing 80th Ave Southeast ramp serves as a reversible center roadway express lane ramp for transit, HOVs and Island residents when the express lanes are westbound, .

Buses and HOVs on Mercer Island that normally use the 80th Ave SE ramp to enter express lanes when they are eastbound may use the Island Crest Way on-ramp, according to that city press release.

But after Monday, westbound drivers who get on the I-90 Express Lanes in Bellevue will not be able to exit until Seattle, the state reported.

Closing the ramp on Mercer Island will allow the Washington State Department of Transportation to complete the second stage of a three-stage project that adds full-time high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in both directions on I-90’s outer roadways between Seattle and Bellevue, according to a Washington State Department of Transportation press release.

As westbound buses, carpools and vanpools will see a new overhead sign just before the East Channel Bridge that will say: “No access to Mercer Island.”

HOV commuters going to Mercer Island from Bellevue and other points east will need to take the main highway which offers direct access to the Island’s exits for transit and carpools, according ot the state.

The 80th Avenue Southeast ramp also will no longer reverse; it will become a full-time on-ramp with direct access to the new HOV lane on eastbound I-90, the state reported.

The Washington State Department of Transportation anticipated the following impacts to buses and commuters:

Until the ramp work is complete, afternoon and evening carpools, vanpools and buses – King County Metro Transit routes 211 and 216, and Sound Transit ST Express routes 550 and 554 –  that normally use the 80th Avenue Southeast ramp to access the express lanes in the eastbound direction will need to switch to the general-purpose eastbound I-90 on-ramp at Island Crest Way. Commuters using the Island Crest Way access ramp should allow extra travel time to navigate through general-purpose traffic.

The ramp closure will not affect traffic bypassing Mercer Island in the I-90 Express Lanes or in either direction of the outer roadways.

According to a state press release, WSDOT’s HOV project will maintain the number of general purpose or HOV lanes on I-90 after Sound Transit's East Link light rail line is built in the existing Express Lanes, according to the state.

After the Washington State Department of Transportation completes its HOV lane project, Sound Transit will start construction on the , which will cross Lake Washington on I-90's Express Lanes, according to the state.

The final stage of the WSDOT's HOV project includes HOV lanes in each direction between Mercer Island and Seattle. The final stage is slated to begin construction in 2013, according to the state.

-- Information from the Washington State Department of Transportation