State preparing to hand over I-90 express lanes to Sound Transit
May 30, 2017, 9:05 AM | Updated: 10:43 am
The I-90 express lanes will be turned over to Sound Transit for the agency's light-rail project to the Eastside. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
The I-90 express lanes over Lake Washington are nearing their end.
The express lanes will be open in a limited way through this weekend but come June 5 they are gone. The center roadway will be turned over to Sound Transit for its light-rail project.
There will be two, 12-hour night closures this weekend when the state will perform final tests to make sure all the new life-safety equipment inside the tunnels are functional.
“We need to make sure that when we hit the button that says there’s a fire, all of the systems click into place,” said Travis Phelps, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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Eastbound I-90 will be squeezed into the express lanes Friday night through Saturday morning. Westbound I-90 will have the same configuration Saturday night into Sunday morning.
On Monday, there will be an HOV lane all the way from Seattle to Bellevue.
Phelps says there will be a learning curve, but he is not anticipating big backups or problems.
There will be changes for drivers on Mercer Island as well. All Mercer Island traffic will be using the mainline of I-90. There is no solo access to westbound I-90 at Island Crest Way. Drivers will have to access the freeway through downtown.
If you’re in the Mercer Island lid and going westbound, you will not be able to go in and out of the HOV lane. It is restricted by a double white line. WSDOT says it is designed that way to prevent people entering at Island Crest Way from switching lanes.
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