Tag Archives: 520

What North Capitol Hill’s freeway lid will look like… in 2030

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North Capitol Hill’s freeway lid will complement Montlake’s, but not until 2030

By Ryan Packer

With work well underway in Montlake adding a new freeway lid that will also sit under a newly reconstructed Montlake Boulevard, the Washington State Department of Transportation is still progressing forward with its plan to complete what it calls the “Rest of the West” projects. Earlier this year, WSDOT announced that the schedule for completion of the segment of 520 over Portage Bay and the accompanying freeway lid at East Roanoke Street would be delayed by a year, with the opening date pushed from 2029 to 2030.

(Image: CHS)

When North Capitol Hill’s freeway lid is complete at the end of this decade, it will completely remake the street grid around E Roanoke Street, providing bike and pedestrian connectivity that just doesn’t exist now and stitching the city back together a little. 10th Ave E and Delmar Drive E will be joined together by an open space lid almost as large as Roanoke Park to the north of it. Pathways on either side of the central green space will allow people walking or rolling to take shortcuts across the lid. Continue reading →

Lid construction milestone start of big Montlake Boulevard changes

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There are still two more years of construction ahead to finish the project but an important milestone for creating the new Montlake Lid across 520 has come — and it will bring a major motor vehicle traffic shutdown for the weekend while the area will remain open to people walking and biking.

WSDOT work crews will spend the weekend shifting surface traffic lanes onto the recently completed eastern portion of the new lid to prepare for construction of the new structure’s western half:

We are shifting Montlake Boulevard onto the new Montlake lid this weekend, Aug. 27-30, so we can remove the old street crossing over SR 520 and build a new, improved overpass. During the weekend traffic shift, access to arterials and SR 520 ramps, as shown in the map below, will be greatly limited in the Montlake area.

Crews will shift Montlake Boulevard onto the Montlake lid with work from 10 PM Friday until 6 AM Monday. During these work hours, Montlake Boulevard will be closed to cars between Roanoke Street and Hamlin Street, along with all SR 520 on- and off-ramps serving Montlake Boulevard. Continue reading →

Montlake Bridge planned for month-long summer maintenance closure

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(Image: WSDOT)

First opened 96 years ago this June, the state says much needed work will close the busy Montlake Bridge for around a month starting late this summer. Meanwhile, there is a new rumbling of opposition to the Washington State Department of Transportation’s plans to construct a second parallel bridge as part of its ongoing 520 replacement project.

WSDOT says the planned summer 2021 construction is all about maintenance and replacing the old bridge’s key components over a month of work likely to start in August that will mean no motor vehicles crossing the span but sidewalk and boat traffic, below, continuing: Continue reading →

Construction of Montlake Lid park and transit plaza begins

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Rendering of where new lid will be constructed (Image: WSDOT)

Major construction for placement of a new lid over 520 in Montlake begins this weekend. The work means a closure of the eastbound lanes and marks the start of a project that will bring some major change to the neighborhood long divided by the busy freeway.

1/29/2021 to 2/1/2021 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Crews will install girders, large beams, over SR 520 for construction of the Montlake lid. The closure begins at 11 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29 and ends 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 1. Eastbound SR 520 will be closed from Montlake Boulevard to 92nd Ave NE on the Eastside. The bicycle and pedestrian path under SR 520 will be closed at the same time.

WSDOT’s video outlines the work and a series of planned weekend closures.

Continue reading →

Civic duty: Take a tour and a survey on the plans for the Montlake Lid

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For a change of pace from the Capitol Hill protest zone and yet another civic duty deadline — Tuesday night! — how about some reporting on a water fountain at a new park in Montlake. The Washington State Department of Transportation is hosting an online open house about the state Route 520 project near Montlake Blvd. The open house includes a survey asking about the sorts of amenities people may want when the park lidding 520 is completed. Consider it an entertainment option for the rest of your Tuesday.

In the COVID-19 era, what would normally be a public, in-person open house has been moved to the Internet. The “open house” documents are fairly compact, though some of them do get into a bit of detail. Continue reading →

WSDOT’s 520 ‘Montlake Project’ construction moving forward with open house updates, new plan for neighborhood market

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“This project, with a $455 million contract cost, is part of the remaining $1.6 billion in SR 520 improvements from Lake Washington to I-5 – the ‘Rest of the West.’ These improvements are funded by the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation legislation.” (Image: WSDOT)

Some things, like speeding tickets issued near Montlake Elementary, will never change — also, apparently, the presence of the Montlake Market.

The new plan for keeping the store operating in the neighborhood — and the several construction elements that make up the Montlake Project of the state’s 520 replacement effort will be on the docket at two WSDOT open houses: Continue reading →

Here’s why WSDOT paid $1.9M for this Montlake house — UPDATE

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(Image: WSDOT)

In the middle of the Montlake neighborhood bracing for big changes and years of construction as WSDOT completes the replacement of SR 520, one building got a lot of attention as the landowners finally struck a $16 million deal to sell the Montlake Market property to the state. But it wasn’t the only private property in the neighborhood to change hands for the 520 project.

Turns out, in May, the state also struck a deal to pay $1.9 million for a two-story, three-bedroom, single family-style Lake Washington Blvd E home. The property will be unveiled Saturday to start a new chapter in its life as the state’s Montlake Project Information Center:  Continue reading →

Montlake prepares for years of new 520 construction, life without market

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WSDOT’s “artistic rendering of the transit hub on a planned SR 520 highway lid in Montlake.”

The Montlake Market won’t stand in the way of progress to complete the replacement of SR 520. The state has agreed to acquire the property for $16 million as it prepares for the start of construction on the “Montlake Project” to create an improved Montlake Boulevard interchange, a landscaped lid over SR 520, a bicycle and pedestrian “land bridge” east of the lid, and a three-lane West Approach Bridge South over Union Bay for eastbound traffic.

Thursday night, WSDOT will hold a pre-construction open house hosted by the SR 520 project’s contractor from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. The meeting will cover the latest project designs, construction schedule, and management plan for limiting construction effects in Montlake.

But the fate of the market destined to make way for the project became much more clear with the $16 million deal. Continue reading →

WSDOT to present Montlake Market ‘preservation options’

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Washington Department of Transportation officials are holding a public meeting Wednesday to discuss its $455.3 million “520 Montlake Project” and community calls for solutions to save the much-loved Montlake Market.

CHS reported in October on the higher construction bid for the project to create an improved Montlake Boulevard interchange, a landscaped lid over SR 520, a bicycle and pedestrian “land bridge” east of the lid, and a three-lane West Approach Bridge South over Union Bay for eastbound traffic.

Construction is slated to start in early 2019 start and the work could wrap up as early as 2023. Continue reading →

With $455.3M construction bid, 520 ‘Montlake Project’ set for 2019 start

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The Washington Department of Transportation has selected the contractor and says construction is set to begin in early 2019 on its Montlake Project, the next phase in completing the replacement of SR 520.

WSDOT announced Wednesday that Graham Contracting Ltd. submitted the top proposal, a $455.3 million contract for construction of an improved Montlake Boulevard interchange, a landscaped lid over SR 520, a bicycle and pedestrian “land bridge” east of the lid, and a three-lane West Approach Bridge South over Union Bay for eastbound traffic. Continue reading →