The evening commute out of Bellevue gets a little quicker this afternoon thanks to the opening of a new southbound carpool lane. Until now the Wilburton tunnel and construction limited the number of lanes in the area. But this afternoon, the new lane will be open to traffic.

What’s more, carpoolers who travel southbound I-405 to I-90 will no longer use any general purpose lanes. It’s carpool lane to I-90 from SE Eighth Street.

“Nearly 40 percent of the evening drivers make this I-405 to I-90 move every day,” said Seema Javeri, WSDOT project engineer. “Eliminating those all of lane changes will speed up the commute and certainly make the area safer.”