Date:  Monday, August 31, 2009

Contact: Jon Harris, Project Engineer, (425) 282-6826 (Renton)
Craig Kanaya, WSDOT Communications, (425) 456-8606

RENTON – Crews in Renton and Tukwila reopened the carpool lane on southbound I-405 at 4:48 a.m. on, Aug. 31 a few minutes ahead of schedule.

“Crews used a combination of good planning and teamwork to reopen the lane,” said Stacy Trussler, I-405 Deputy Project Director. “Drivers did their part by staying engaged and taking alternate routes. They checked traffic before leaving the house, tuned into local media and paid attention to overhead message boards.”

Engineers anticipated up to hour-long delays if drivers did not use alternate routes or delay trips as crews funneled the freeway through two lanes. During the weekend, travelers through Renton experienced delays on southbound I-405 and SR 167, with the longest delays mid-afternoon, possibly due to travel to the Sounders and Mariners games.

Crews closed the southbound I-405 carpool lane between SR 167 and the West Valley Highway at 9 p.m. Friday, and were expected to reopen the lane Monday morning Aug. 31. Crews took advantage of the good weather to complete the final construction stages on the new bridge over Oakesdale Avenue SW, pouring concrete that took 42 hours to cure, and completing paving, striping and cleanup work. The carpool lane opened at 4:48 a.m. in time for the Monday morning commute.

The work is part of the $91.5 million I-405/I-5 to SR 169 Stage 1 Widening Project, which adds a new I-405 lane in each direction between I-5 and SR 167 and a new southbound SR 167 lane between I-405 and SW 41st Street. When open to traffic this fall, these project improvements will help relieve congestion at the I-405 interchanges with SR 167 and I-5, and improve the drive from Renton to Tukwila, one of the worst bottlenecks along the I-405 corridor.

For project information please visit: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/I405/I5toSR169/

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