2022: A year in review for the SR 520 Program

Washington State Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 01/31/2023 03:59 PM PST
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Message from the administrators

Headshot of Omar Jepperson

Greetings. We hope 2023 is off to a promising and healthy start for you and yours. This “Year in Review” email recaps major construction work on SR 520 over the past year, and notes some key work planned for 2023. We provide this report annually, together with ongoing outreach, to help keep the public informed about their multibillion-dollar investment in a critical highway program.

If you crossed Lake Washington recently on SR 520, you no doubt noticed the progress our crews have made building a new, safer bridge over Union Bay for eastbound traffic, as well as a new highway lid over SR 520 in Montlake. You also may have noticed our crews working to build a new bus and carpool connection between SR 520 and the I-5 express lanes.
Headshot for Dawn Yankauskas

You’ll see a lot more progress on these structures in 2023. Moreover, we’ll launch our next big SR 520 project later this year: replacement of the old Portage Bay Bridge and construction of a landscaped highway lid over SR 520 near Roanoke Park.

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read this email. And please let us know if you have any questions; you’ll find ways to contact us at the end of this message. As always, we appreciate your interest in the SR 520 Program. And we thank you for your patience as we work to deliver important safety and mobility improvements on a key urban highway.

Here’s to a bright 2023 for you, your family and your friends!
Omar Signature

Omar Jepperson
Administrator, SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program

Dawn signature

Dawn Yankauskas
Deputy Administrator, SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program

2022 Highlights

We continue to reconstruct SR 520 largely from east to west. We’re replacing aging, vulnerable bridges while adding new, multimodal elements to make travel safer and more reliable for all corridor users. We’re also making important environmental enhancements. With SR 520’s Eastside segment and new floating bridge completed, our work is now centered in Seattle, with three large projects:

Please read on for some key SR 520 Program highlights in 2022.

CONSTRUCTION IN PROGRESS:

Montlake Project and SR 520/I-5 Express Lanes Connection Project

During construction, we cleaned 25.8 mil. gallons of muddy water, installed 4,000 ft of drainage pipe and poured 3,368 truckloads of concrete.We completed 80 concrete columns and placed 120 concrete girders for new the eastbound 520 bridge. We set 54 girders for the Montlake lid.Photo shows construction for the Roanoke Street off-ramp during June and July 2022 after it was reopened to traffic after being closed for 55 days

We closed the Roanoke Street off-ramp for 55 days in July and August to enable construction of a large retaining wall for the SR 520/I-5 Connection project.

PREPARING FOR MORE CONSTRUCTION:

Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project

Received $406 mil. in additional state funding to stay on schedule. 61 companies attended a pre-bid meeting. Obtained 27 permits for construction.

COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVE CONTRACTING:

Employed 13 subcontractors and paid them $27 mil. Awarded 26% of our contract value to small businesses & firms owned by minorities, women & veterans.Photo shows an outreach event with a group of people standing, smiling and looking at materials