The State Route 520 floating bridge reopened this morning after crews worked through the weekend to demolish the old Evergreen Point Road overpass in Medina and install major stormwater drainage pipes beneath the highway.
The highway closed to traffic Friday night to make way for demolition equipment. Steel and an estimated 50 dump trucks of concrete demolition debris from the 50-year-old Medina overpass will be recycled this week, said Brian Dobbins, construction manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project.
About 100 construction workers used the weekend closure for demolition, pouring concrete overpass decks, digging trenches for storm drains and grinding smooth a rough stretch of the highway near 84th Avenue Northeast.
“We had a long list of work going into the weekend – and were short an hour because of daylight saving time – but crews buttoned everything back up in time for today’s commute,” Dobbins said.
Now that the old Medina overpass is gone, crews can shift gears to build new concrete supports for the remainder of the new Evergreen Point Road lidded overpass, which is expected to be completed during the next 18 months. When complete, the new overpass will measure 485 feet long and include transit access, a park and ride lot, and paths and open space to help reconnect the community.
