North End of Bellevue Way to Close Overnight Thursday for 520 Project Roadwork

The north end of Bellevue Way will be shut overnight Thursday, to reconfigure the traffic on the overpass.

The closure Thursday-Friday is right on the Bellevue-Kirkland border, from Northup Way south to NE 32nd Place in Bellevue.

The  sent out the following traffic alert from the Washington State Department of Transportation:

On Thursday, July 26, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Friday Bellevue Way will be closed between Northup Way and Northeast 32nd Place so that traffic can be shifted onto the new west half of the Bellevue Way bridge over SR 520. Prior to the shift, final paving of the approaches, lane striping and barrier placement will be completed. Nearby residents should expect to hear the sounds of trucks, paving machines and asphalt rollers. With traffic shifted, crews with Eastside Corridor Constructors (ECC) can begin preparing the east half of the bridge for demolition, which is scheduled for the weekend of August 10-13.  The next closure of Bellevue Way will be August 10-13.  Both Bellevue Way closures detour traffic to 108th Avenue NE.

The construction on the overpass is part of the . The project, which is west of Evergreen Point Road to east of 108th Avenue NE in Bellevue will do the following:

• Widen SR 520 and create carpool lanes in both directions.
• Widen the shoulders, so disabled vehicles will not block the lanes of traffic.
• Create three landscaped lids over SR 520, two with access to new transit stops.
• Add a bike and pedestrian lane to SR 520.
• Create environmental improvements, including improvements to streams and noise barriers.

Overall, the project is part of a $4.65 billion plan to improve SR 520. The state legislature decided that $2.37 billion of the amount will be paid through state and federal funding and tolls. The rest has yet to be determined.

More information on the Eastside Transit and HOV Project can be found on the WSDOT website.

For more coverage about State Route 520 project on Bellevue Patch, click here.