After more than a decade and a quarter billion dollars spent, planning of the new State Route 520 between Interstate 5 and Medina is nearly complete.
The Washington State Department of Transportation Thursday released its final Environmental Impact Statement, the document that allows the Federal Highway Administration to give its final approval on the project. Construction is slated to begin in 2012, and workers in Aberdeen have already begun working on pontoons for the new bridge.
“A stronger bridge is a more reliable bridge, and workers from all over the state already are rebuilding the SR-520 corridor to keep commuters and the economy moving,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement.
WSDOT plans to build two general-purpose lanes and a transit/HOV lane in each direction, a bicycle-pedestrian path, better transit connections and improved interchanges in Seattle.
“Adding dedicated lanes for buses and carpools on SR 520 completes another link in the region’s HOV network and moves more people across Lake Washington in fewer vehicles,” Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond said. “This helps provide more travel options for commuters in the region.”
The new bridge is projected to drastically cut travel times by as much as 20 minutes in some places, according to the document. Additionally, smoother interchanges should lead to reduce traffic on surrounding city streets on both sides of the bridge.
Though all parties involved have agreed on a design, the funding is still up in the air. The project is projected to cost $4.65 billion, but a little more than $2 billion of that remains unaccounted for. According to the document, it is projected that funding should be available by 2014. The inability to find that money could delay the opening of the corridor.
The new SR-520 floating bridge is projected to open in 2014 with other aspects of the project redone interchanges on I-5 and Montlake are expected to be complete in 2017 or 2018.
Money from tolls on the current bridge are projected to provide $1.1 of the $2.6 billion of identified funding. They are set to begin this summer, and will vary based on time of day. Peak rates will be as high as $3.50 for drivers with a Good to Go account, with an additional $1.50 charge for non-Good to Go drivers.
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