I-5 will get express lane for buses serving Eastside-South Lake Union
Sep 27, 2018, 1:15 PM
Finally, I-5 will get a fifth reversible Interstate 5 express lane between Highway 520 and Mercer Street for buses only, as reported in The Seattle Times.
The new $70 million lane is part of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s $4.6 billion plan to rebuild the Highway 520 corridor. The Times reports WSDOT will build a direct-access ramp at north Capitol Hill from 520 to I-5 six years earlier that expected. Then contractors will add the bus lane and a retaining wall.
WSDOT expects to open the new lane in 2023. Work begins in early 2019 with the Montlake Project, and then construction of of the new express lane between SR 520 and South Lake Union neighborhood begins.
The new lane should speed up travel to Mercer Street, according to The Times. Currently, buses must merge into heavy traffic on Stewart Street.
