City of Seattle wants ‘certain assurances’ with new Montlake Bridge
Jul 26, 2016, 12:55 PM | Updated: 1:35 pm
A second bascule bridge across the Montlake Cut is in the early planning stages, KIRO Radio's Chris Sullivan reports. (City of Seattle)
(City of Seattle)
The very last piece of the 520 Bridge project is a new Montlake Bridge.
The new bridge will run just east of the current Montlake Bridge and feature an HOV lane, two general purpose lanes, and a bike/pedestrian path, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The state needs the bridge to extend the three lanes that will be built over 520 as part of the Montlake lid. The new bridge will serve for the northbound lanes of Montlake. The existing bridge will be turned into the southbound lanes, just like the state did with the Tacoma Narrows configuration.
KIRO host Dori Monson asked me to check into this part of the project.
The question: Will the second bridge include car and bus traffic or just be for bicyclists and pedestrians?
Answer: WSDOT and the City of Seattle continue their discussions. The city has expressed interest in considering a bridge that only carries bicyclists and pedestrians.
The Seattle City Council put it in writing in 2012 that it did not want a new Montlake bridge without certain assurances: “the Council would consider supporting construction of this bridge only if the bridge would be used to provide dedicated capacity for high occupancy vehicles, transit, bicyclists and pedestrians … the Council did not support the creation of additional roadway capacity along Montlake Boulevard for single occupant vehicles and other general purpose traffic,” Council Resolution 31411 stated.
The state has funding for this new Montlake Bridge, but construction is not slated to begin until 2024. A lot can happen in that time. City councils can change. Opinions can change.
Nothing is set in stone, but this is the plan WSDOT is going with, at least for today.
