Downtown Bellevue drivers will need to find a new way around at night because crews will close the NE 12th Street bridge for nearly three weeks to create a construction work zone. Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 16, WSDOT will shut down NE 12th Street at night from 112th Avenue Northeast to 116th Avenue Northeast.

The closure is part of the I-405 – NE 8th Street to SR 520 Braided Ramps Project known as the Bellevue Braids because it builds a series of weaved ramps between Northeast Eighth Street and SR 520 that look like braids. The bulk of the $107.5 million project funding comes from the 2005 gas tax, the Bellevue Braids received $30 million from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

To get around the bridge closure, WSDOT suggests drivers use the newly built Northeast 10th Street bridge, just two blocks south of Northeast 12th Street. The bridge will close at 8 p.m. each weeknight, Monday through Thursday, and reopen at 5 a.m. the next day. The closure is scheduled to last until the first week in March.

During the nightly closures, crews will build a work zone on the south two lanes of the bridge. They need this work zone to begin building a new longer and wider bridge over I-405. Crews need to add temporary lighting, remove curbs, modify signals, restripe the roadway, and make other temporary adjustments to create the work zone.

To create the work zone, crews will reduce the existing four lane bridge to two lanes. The work zone will remain for two years, but will shift on the bridge as construction progresses. Traffic will use half of the bridge while crews build a new bridge to the south of it.

“Our goal is to keep traffic moving during construction rather than close the bridge” said WSDOT Project Engineer Seema Javeri. “Although we will keep lanes open, drivers should proceed with caution as they navigate their way across the bridge while we’re working.”

The longer and wider bridge will accommodate new ramps between Northeast Eighth Street and SR 520 and make room for a new pedestrian and bike path separated from traffic.

More information about the stages of construction is available online.