A new Montlake lid and interchange… A new pedestrian and bicycle land bridge over SR 520… A new West Approach Bridge South to carry eastbound traffic from Montlake to the floating bridge… New transit/HOV ramps to and from the Montlake lid… WSDOT will visit Montlake Tuesday night for an open house before construction begins later this year on the first phase of the “Rest of the West” final portion of the 520 replacement project.

“SR 520 staff and partner agencies will be available during the open house to discuss what’s coming up and answer your questions,” WDOT promises.

The full “Rest of the West” portion of the replacement project is planned to include highway lids in the Montlake and Roanoke neighborhoods, the south half of a new west approach bridge, a new Portage Bay Bridge, and a second drawbridge over the Montlake Cut. The first phase of construction — WSDOT is calling it the Montlake phase — is slated to begin late this year.

It will create “a new Montlake interchange, a landscaped lid over SR 520, a bicycle/pedestrian ‘land bridge’ east of the lid, and a West Approach Bridge South for eastbound traffic.”

Some neighborhood opposition to the 520 plan continues. You can see the concept designs for many of the planned projects here. In addition to the coming surge of construction work related to 520, the area will also see construction of changes to the 23rd Ave corridor as Seattle “Vision Zero” work begins again in 2018. Construction work is also being lined up on the south end of the 23rd Ave corridor.

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