Traffic

Southbound lanes of I-405 closed in Bellevue this weekend

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Those who use I-405 through downtown Bellevue will want to be aware of a major traffic alert this weekend that will close all southbound lanes of the freeway as well as some ramps.

There's also an overnight closure on I-90 this weekend.

All lanes of southbound I-405 between Northeast 10th Street and Main Street in Bellevue will close from midnight Saturday, August 10, to 5 a.m. on Monday, August 12.

Next weekend, the same section of I-405 but in the northbound direction will be closed as well as several northbound ramps, from Aug. 16 to 18.

The closures are for construction on the new light rail line that's going to connect Seattle to the Eastside.

The project this weekend is going to remove bridge supports used for building the light rail bridge above the freeway.

Some work starts Friday with some southbound ramps in Bellevue closed between 10 p.m. and midnight Saturday, including NE 4th Street and NE 8th Street to I-405.

Southbound ramps on I-405 on NE 6th Street will also be closed until Monday, along with the northbound I-405 HOV offramp and southbound HOV onramp to and from NE 6th Street.

KIRO 7 Traffic Anchor Tracy Taylor runs down all the weekend road closures in the video below. Scroll down past video window to continue reading.

The light rail bridge is part of a $3.7 billion project to extend light rail across the I-90 floating bridge that's set to open in 2023.

"I really want to call out the workers who built this bridge. The bridge is really hand built. Everything that was put in place was by somebody's hands. And as you look around here and look at the condition that it is in, I think you'll see a lot of pride went into this bridge, said Sound Transit Construction Manager Jon Lebo.

Meanwhile, on I-90, all westbound lanes between Island Crest Way on Mercer Island and I-5 in Seattle will close Friday at 10 p.m. The lanes will reopen Monday by 5 a.m.

Crews will inspect the safety systems inside the Mercer Island Lid.