Date:  Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Contact:
Annie Johnson, WSDOT Communications, 206-716-1165
Linda Robson, Sound Transit Communications, 206-398-5149

SEATTLE—The Washington State Department of Transportation in partnership with Sound Transit today awarded Interstate Improvement a $7.6 million contract to preserve and strengthen a three mile section of Interstate 90 between Bellevue and Mercer Island.

This work is part of the I-90 Two-Way Transit and HOV Operations project. The contract, which preserves a three-mile section of I-90, is moving forward quickly thanks to funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The I-90 Two-Way Transit and HOV Operations project adds HOV lanes on I-90 between Bellevue and Seattle and improves HOV access in Mercer Island and Bellevue. The new HOV lanes on the outer roadways will introduce 24-hour HOV capacity both eastbound and westbound and enable Sound Transit to start building light rail across Lake Washington in the center lanes.

The I-90 roadway improvements are being constructed in three stages. The pavement preservation contract is $7.6 million and will preserve and strengthen the existing concrete panels on both directions of I-90 between Bellevue Way SE and W Mercer Way and is expected to begin construction in early 2010. The work was initially part of Stage 2 of the project but was accelerated due to funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The remaining portion of Stage 2, which adds an HOV lane on eastbound I-90 between Mercer Island and Bellevue and modifies the existing reversible HOV ramp at 80^th Ave SE on Mercer Island, was advertised to contractors on December 14 and is scheduled to begin construction in Spring 2010.

Stage 1 of the project, which included a new westbound HOV lane between Bellevue and Mercer Island and a new HOV off-ramp at 80^th Ave SE on Mercer Island, opened to drivers in October 2008. All three stages of the $187.6 million project are anticipated to be complete in 2014. Sound Transit’s East Link light rail project, part of 36 miles of light rail expansion approved by voters in November 2008, is targeted to begin serving Mercer Island and Bellevue in 2020 and the Overlake area of Redmond in 2021.

Washington state is administering the Recovery Act investments with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability. Gov. Gregoire has created a new Web site, http://www.recovery.wa.gov/, enabling every Washingtonian to see where the tax dollars are going and hold government accountable for the results. On the federal level, President Obama has appointed Vice President Biden, a proven and aggressive Inspector General, to oversee all states’ recovery efforts and root out waste and fraud. This combined oversight will ensure taxpayer dollars are managed effectively.

For more information about the I-90 Two-Way Transit and HOV Operations project please visit: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i90/twowaytransit/.

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