Instance of the aesthetic design of the brand new Essential Road bridge. Rendering: WSDOT
Development started in mid-june on the outdated Essential Road Bridge throughout I-405 in Downtown Bellevue. Over 100 crew members labored to finish the demolition of the 260-foot lengthy bridge. Crews are presently rebuilding a brand new, longer bridge to accommodate the widening of I-405 as a part of the Renton to Bellevue Challenge.
Based on WSDOT’s weblog, the brand new bridge will nonetheless have 4 lanes, two in every path – however it will likely be friendlier to pedestrian and bicycle visitors. The brand new Essential Road Bridge will embody a 5-foot-wide bike lane, an 8-foot-wide sidewalk and curb, a 12-and-a-half-foot-wide multi-use path and a 6-foot-wide landscaping planter that additionally creates a barrier between sidewalks and lively visitors.
The design of the brand new bridge will combine with present constructions all through the I-405 hall in Downtown Bellevue and incorporates ornamental finishes. They are going to be parts impressed by nature which are additionally visually delicate to the encompassing areas.
According to the I-405 Grasp Plan that was developed in 2002, WSDOT is working to implement multimodal enhancements to maneuver extra folks extra effectively by means of the I-405/SR 167 Hall. Pedestrian and bicycle lane enhancements are a method of fulfilling this imaginative and prescient. One other facet embody building parts of the King County Eastrail, and a brand new crossing over I-405 in Downtown Bellevue on the web site of the previous Wilburton rail bridge.
The Essential Road Bridge will doubtlessly be closed for as much as 5 months whereas crews assemble the brand new bridge. Northeast Fourth Road will function because the deliberate detour route, with indicators directing vacationers across the closure.
After the five-month closure, the newly constructed bridge will partially open with one lane open to visitors in every path for 60 days. Drivers will have the ability to use the bridge throughout these 60 days however pedestrians and bicyclists will be unable to. After the 60-day partial pre-opening, all lanes and sidewalks on the finished bridge sick open to all vacationers.
The bridge is anticipated to be finished in late fall 2022.
