August 21, 2017

$123M Lander overpass project will start in 2018 and take 2 years

Renderings from city of Seattle [enlarge]

The new Sodo bridge will span the BNSF Railway tracks and a future track for Amtrak.

The Port of Seattle has boosted its contribution to a rail overpass in the Sodo area by $10 million — the final piece of funding for the $123 million project.

Seattle Department of Transportation is the lead agency for the bridge that will carry South Lander Street over train tracks between First and Fourth avenues South. SDOT expects to pick a contractor next month and start construction on the two-year project in early 2018.

Last fall the project got its biggest chunk of funding: a $45 million federal FASTLANE grant.

The port now is kicking in a total of $15 million.

Here's where the rest of the funding comes from: Move Seattle levy, $20 million; city appropriation, $13 million; Puget Sound Regional Council Surface Transportation Program, $9.5 million; Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board, $8 million; Connecting Washington, $7 million; National Highway Freight Program, $3 million; and BNSF Railway, $2.5 million.

The new bridge will have two 11-foot travel lanes in each direction, plus a 14-foot-wide multi-use path separated from traffic by a 2-foot-wide railing. The cast-in-place concrete structure will have precast concrete girders and wall panels.

On Sept. 20 the city will open contractor bids for the project, which is estimated to cost between $43 million and $48 million to build.

A pre-bid meeting will be held 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave., Room 4050, Seattle. The meeting will cover contract requirements, but is not mandatory.

A bid advertisement notice for contractors ran in the Aug. 17 DJC.

The DJC reported last year that the project's budget was $140 million. An SDOT spokeswoman said the lower cost comes from a reduction in project size, property purchase needs and engineering advancements.

[enlarge]

The pedestrian and bike path will be separated from vehicle lanes.

South Lander Street handles 13,000 vehicles, 1,400 pedestrians and 100 bicyclists each day. The city says more than 100 trains a day cross Lander, creating more than 4.5 hours of delay for commuters and freight.

According to the city, the Lander crossing is also one of the riskiest rail crossings in the country, with an average of 485 “track violations” each day as cars, pedestrians and bicycles cross the tracks after the safety gates are activated. Three pedestrians have been killed since 2011 at the crossing.

Trains crossing Lander also cause delays for trucks carrying freight to and from the port, warehouses and manufacturers.

“Washington state loses millions of dollars in economic activity because of train, truck, and urban traffic congestion — at Lander Street alone,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell in a news release. “By moving freight faster, we can fuel our export economy and create good paying jobs.”

COWI North America recently finished the bridge designs and subconsultant ESA performed a cultural resources assessment.