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May 11, 2001
$6M fly-over planned at I-405, SR-167
RENTON -- The state Department of Transportation is ready to straighten at least one bottleneck on Interstate 405. WSDOT is seeking bids for construction of $5 million to $6 million in modifications at the State Route 167 interchange with I-405.
As it stands, the busy interchange is designed in a "clover-leaf" pattern. Traffic headed from southbound I-405 to southbound SR-167 has to merge with traffic coming onto southbound I-405. With the modifications, a grade separation will take traffic coming off southbound I-405 up and over vehicles coming onto I-405.
The fly-over design was created years ago with funding from Referendum 49, passed in 1998 to relieve congestion on area roads. The project was delayed, however, when funding was taken away with the passage of Initiative 695, which limited the cost of vehicle registration.
The project is not part of the I-405 Corridor Program, a community-based effort sponsored by WSDOT to improve transportation along the Eastside. A draft environmental impact statement on the program is due out in June, and finalized traffic solutions should be selected by this fall. Preliminary estimates put the project at $7 billion, with suggested projects including adding two new general-purpose lanes to I-405, widening SR-167, and improving access to HOV lanes.
Bids for the SR-167 interchange modifications are due June 13. An advertisement and bid summary for the project are in today's Daily Journal of Commerce.