Date:
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Contact:
Jeff Switzer, SR 520 Communications, 206-770-3547, 206-819-7230 (cell)
Suanne Pelley, SR 520 Communications, 206-770-3578, 206-437-5717 (cell)
Interested contractors and consultants are invited to April 21 meeting; project breaks ground in 2011
SEATTLE – Design-build teams interested in building transit and safety improvements for a key stretch of State Route 520 on the east side of Lake Washington are being asked to submit statements of qualification by May 20.
The SR 520 Eastside Transit and HOV Project contract price is approximately $325 million to $425 million and will include highway and environmental improvements from Medina to Bellevue. In March, Gov. Gregoire and the Washington State Legislature gave the go-ahead for the project by allowing toll revenue collected on the floating bridge to be spent within the SR 520 corridor.
“We want to take advantage of the favorable bidding environment and are moving swiftly to begin building improvements on the Eastside,” SR 520 Program Director Julie Meredith said. “We plan to have a design-builder onboard by the end of the year and break ground in 2011.”
Design-build teams are invited to attend a voluntary meeting next week.
- When: 2– 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 21
- Where: Seattle Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle
The request for qualifications is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/contaa/DesignBuildContracts/SR520medinatoSR202 .
In June WSDOT will issue a request for proposals for the project. Technical proposals and bids for the project are due in September. WSDOT will choose the design-build team with the best apparent value based on their technical proposal and bid price.
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 a thorough environmental analysis of the project over the past two years. 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 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 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.
More information about the SR 520 Program and the Eastside Transit and HOV Project is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr520bridge.
< Go Back