What’s next for the 1-year-old 520 floating bridge

Apr 25, 2017, 2:41 PM | Updated: 2:42 pm

Residents near the new floating 520 bridge on the east side of Lake Washington are complaining about noise from the structure. (WSDOT)

More than a decade of planning and five years of construction went into the completion of the new 520 bridge. (KIRO 7)

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee cuts the ribbon to open the new SR 520 Bridge.

Thousands of runners fill the eastbound lanes of the new State Route 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington, Saturday, April 2, 2016, during a 10K run to kick off weekend ceremonies for the grand opening of the span, which connects the cities of Seattle and Bellevue, Wash. The structure will open to vehicular traffic later in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Visitors look over the edge of the new State Route 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington, Saturday, April 2, 2016, during a weekend grand-opening event in Seattle. The bridge will open to traffic later in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

In this photo made with a fish-eye lens, runners fill the eastbound lanes of the new State Route 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington, Saturday, April 2, 2016, during a 10K run to kick off weekend ceremonies for the grand opening of the span, which connects the cities of Seattle and Bellevue, Wash. The structure will open to vehicular traffic later in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Visitors walk on the roadway of the new State Route 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington, Saturday, April 2, 2016, during a weekend grand-opening event in Seattle. The bridge will open to traffic later in the month. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 people attended the 520 floating bridge celebration. (AP)

BY MYNORTHWEST STAFF

MyNorthwest.com

The new State Route 520 floating bridge opened a year ago Tuesday.

Though the bridge is carrying about 77,000 vehicles per day over Lake Washington, there is plenty of work left to do on the record-breaking monument of civil engineering.

This summer, the West Approach bridge North is expected to open to traffic. The 1.2-mile-long bridge will carry westbound traffic from the floating bridge to Montlake. The bicycle and pedestrian path will also be extended across Lake Washington.

The current west approach bridge is vulnerable to seismic shaking. Its four-lane road has narrow shoulders and no transit/HOV lanes, or a bicycle/pedestrian path.

In 2018, the state plans to break ground on the Montlake phase of construction. Crews will build a West Approach Bridge South to carry eastbound traffic from Montlake to the floating bridge.

A landscaped lid will also be built over SR 520 in Montlake to “further improve connections for transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

Plans are also underway for the replacement of the bridge’s Portage Bay Bridge between Montlake and I-5, as well as adding a second drawbridge over the Montlake Cut, south of University of Washington.

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