• 2004 Project Highlights
• Evaluation Standards

I-405, Bellevue Direct Access

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King County

We removed and replaced the existing NE 8^th Street bridge over I-405 in downtown Bellevue with a higher, longer and wider bridge.  The new NE 8^th Street bridge improves east-west vehicle and pedestrian traffic across I-405 by adding an additional travel lane and wider sidewalks.   The new bridge also made room for a new direct access ramp at NE 6^th Street.  This Sound Transit-sponsored ramp allows buses, carpools and vanpools to directly exit and enter I-405 from the carpool lanes instead of weaving across freeway traffic. The new NE 8^th Street bridge was also built to allow future I-405 widening.   

This project was part of a $139 million package of projects improving access to and from Bellevue via I-405 sponsored by WSDOT, Sound Transit and the City of Bellevue.  The new bridge is built to the latest earthquake and environmental standards, replacing a bridge built to standards dating back more than 30 years.

Design: Construction Management: Schedule: Cost: Engineer's estimate: $14,872,694 Contractor's bid amount: $12,779,599 Anticipated final payment to contractor: $12,800,000

Construction Summary
The new bridge opened to traffic in November 2003.  The contractor shaved months off the construction schedule using an aggressive approach to project phasing.  In addition, the use of contract incentives to spur contractor innovation led to more rapid completion of some work. WSDOT and the contractor worked together effectively and delivered this project ahead of schedule and within our $15 million budget. 

The working relationships among WSDOT, contractor Atkinson Construction, and our partners the City of Bellevue and Sound Transit were outstanding.  This project required significant traffic shifts on NE 8^th, extended closures of carpool lanes on I-405, total weekend and night-time closures of I-405 and weekend closures of NE 8^th.  Coordination and cooperation between the project partners were critical to our success. 

Contractor:
Atkinson Construction, Renton, WA

WSDOT Contact:
Dave Becher, Project Engineer
Phone 425-649-4229
E-mail: Becherd@wsdot.wa.gov

More information on the I-405 - Access Downtown Project.

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