Politics & Government

New Bellevue I-405 and SR 520 Ramps Set to Debut

The new ramps that will help alleviate the "weave" problems on the northbound Interstate 405 and State Route 520 interchange were set to open to motorists Monday morning.

Downtown Bellevue's onramps to Interstate 405 and State Route 520 have changed permanently, after a weekend closure of the interstate's northbound lanes.

Drivers will no longer be able to access State Route 520 from Northeast Eighth Street, according to the the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Motorists need to take Northeast Tenth Street in order to access State Route 520. The newly configured Northeast Eighth Street onramp will lead to northbound I-405 only and the next chance to turn around will be in Kirkland.

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The change eliminates the "weave" of traffic at that point, where drivers changing from I-405 to SR-520 would merge onto the same lanes as drivers who were getting on the interstate at that same point. The weave caused traffic backups on the freeway and on downtown Bellevue streets.

"That weave, not only was it difficut for people to drive it, but it was dangerous," said Bellevue Mayor Don Davidson.Β 

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He said that drivers should remember to take Northeast Tenth Street as an access to 520 -- and also as an access route to downtown Bellevue that is not as busy as Northeast Eighth or Fourth streets.

"The traffic on Tenth is not as much as the others," Davidson said. "People need to start using Tenth."

Northbound I-405 had been shut down completely this weekend through downtown Bellevue as crews connect the new freeway onramps.

The project is part of the that replaces some of the ramps to and from Interstate 405 and State Route 520 though Bellevue.

The project, which includes the replacement of the Northeast 12th Street Bridge, is slated to be completed in summer of 2012. Other changes on the way include new ramps on State Route 520 near 124th Avenue Northeast.

Check out the video by WSDOT if you need help remembering the change.


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