Three teams will compete to design and build the SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project. The project will include approximately $325 million to $425 million in highway and environmental improvements from Medina to Bellevue.

The work is expected to break ground in 2011.

The three prequalified teams are Skanska-Flatiron Joint Venture, Eastside Corridor Constructors and Kiewit/Atkinson Joint Venture. WSDOT selected the design-build teams based on Statements of Qualifications submitted in May.

“These design-build teams are among the best in the world and we expect they will put forward their most innovative ideas to deliver the project on time and within budget,” said Mike Cotten, Design-Build Director for the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program.

The teams will submit technical design and construction proposals for the Eastside project based on the request for proposals from WSDOT. Technical scores will reflect proposals for minimizing traffic and bus service disruptions during construction on the heavily traveled corridor, minimizing construction noise, protecting the environment and designs for community amenities such as freeway lids.

Final proposals are due Sept. 16. In October, WSDOT will identify the team with the best apparent value, based on a combination of technical score and bid. A design-builder would be onboard by the end of the year and break ground in 2011.

Depending on the final contract amount and construction design and schedule, the project is estimated to support up to 2,500 direct, indirect and induced jobs at the height of construction in 2012. The construction contract will include:

· Widening the corridor and constructing new transit and carpool lanes, shoulders and other facilities along 2.5 miles of SR 520 from west of Evergreen Point Road to east of 108th Avenue NE in Bellevue.

· Constructing three landscaped lids over SR 520, two with access to new transit stops that also will be built as part of the project.

· Constructing newly aligned general purpose ramps and direct-access ramps for buses and carpools.

· Adding a path for bicycles and pedestrians.

· Constructing fish-passable culverts, stormwater detention and treatment facilities, noise walls, and stream and wetlands improvements.

The current transit and carpool system on SR 520 east of Medina is incomplete and includes an HOV lane that was added to the westbound shoulder of the highway. Highway merge lanes and sight distances don’t meet current design standards, and existing culverts are barriers to migrating fish.

WSDOT conducted an environmental analysis of the project during the past two years. The Federal Highway Administration recently determined the Eastside Transit and HOV Project would have no significant impact on the environment, which means that all identified project impacts can be mitigated. The analysis shows that when built, the Eastside Project will reduce travel times for buses and carpools and improve safety, access and reliability in the corridor.

The project is funded in part by toll revenue to be collected on the floating bridge starting spring 2011. The legislature set the SR 520 program budget at $4.65 billion for improvements from I-5 in Seattle to SR 202 in Redmond. Toll revenue and state and federal funds provide about $2.37 billion in funding for the SR 520 improvements. WSDOT will continue working with the state Legislature to identify additional funding for other improvements in the corridor.