Renton I-405/SR 167 connector now open

RENTON, Wash. — A major construction project designed to ease traffic through a congested corridor is now finished.

The I-405/SR 167 interchange in Renton is infamous for stop and go traffic, especially during the morning commute.  The Washington State Department of Transportation said the interchange is one of the most heavily congested in the state.

The new $116 million flyover ramp opened overnight for the Thursday morning commute. It links the high occupancy toll lanes on SR 167 directly to the carpool lanes on I-405.

"This interchange experiences about 8 hours of congestion every single day during the week and now we are going to be able to provide some reliability for commuters," said Craig Smiley with WSDOT.

The goal is to help drivers avoid weaving through multiple lanes of traffic, ease congestion and make crashes less likely.

Construction crews wrapped up work on the direct connector four months ahead of schedule.

The project broke ground in 2016. WSDOT said work finished earlier than expected, in part because of the extended dry summer in 2017.

By the end of the year, construction will begin to add an extra traffic lane in both directions on I-405 between Renton and Bellevue. That work will take another four years.

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