Contractors have completed the first phase of the work on 110th Avenue Northeast to prepare for Sound Transit’s tunnel work in that section of town.

The road had been shut down for a month, but one southbound lane has been reopened to traffic and southbound drivers can now access the City Center Plaza and Skyline building garages.

The second phase of this portion of the project is anticipated to last through early-September, after which the entire portion of 110th Avenue will reopen.

That second phase of work involves “replacing the current, loosely compacted soil underneath the roadway in favor of a denser material more appropriate to tunnel through.”

This portion of work area will eventually become the north tunnel portal where Sound Transit’s light rail line will emerge, head next to Bellevue City Hall and head into the Overlake area of Bellevue.

Additionally, crews are constructing a 20-foot temporary sound wall around the south tunnel portal excavation site at Main Street and 112th Avenue Northeast.