New I-405 interchange coming to Totem Lake
Jul 29, 2021, 5:40 AM
WSDOT's plans for the Totem Lake interchange. (WSDOT image)
(WSDOT image)
Totem Lake is bursting at the seems with new development, both commercial and residential, and the hospital campus continues to see growth, too.
The Washington State Department of Transportation is going to give the area a new on and off ramp to I-405 at the north end of Totem Lake to help people gain better access to their communities.
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“There’s a lot of congestion right now, specifically at Northeast 124th Street and Northeast 116th Street, so this 132nd project is going to be building a half-diamond interchange, which will hopefully reduce some of that pressure at those neighboring interchanges,” WSDOT’s Victoria Miller said.
Work will begin later this year to add a new on-ramp from Northeast 132nd Street to northbound I-405, and a new off-ramp from southbound I-405 to 132nd. This will give people a more direct route to the hospital campus, without having to work through all the congestion on 124th.
Why not put in a full interchange or a full diamond?
Miller said the I-405 Express Toll Lanes gobbled up the space.
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“There isn’t enough room because of the direct access ramp at Northeast 128th to build a full interchange,” she said.
This is another in the series of small projects WSDOT is doing to try and maximize the space that they do have for creative congestion solutions.
“We’re just trying to find any way to make improvements where there are issues,” Miller said. “This is just another improvement that, hopefully, will be a really big help.”
The $50 million project is fully funded. The new interchange is expected to open in 2024.
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