So...What are They Doing With the 520 Bridge?

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

Are you going to be working at Boeing field? Just wanted to make sure you knew that Boeing Everett (their biggest campus in the area) does not require a bridge crossing.

I was just thinking that too. Boeing Field can also be reached without a crossing, but would be 405 and the S-curves, worse commute than either bridge. The best route is I90, 520 would be way out of the way. To Everett would be 405 to 5, no bridges, still a nasty commute though. They are also in Auburn and Kent, they have a lot of locations.

[Botev1912]

I-405 North to Lynnwood and I-5 North to Everett is always better than I-90 and I-5 through downtown no matter what part of the day it is.

[neverize]

Does 520 have a dedicated lane for carpoolers? Also, do public transit riders get any benefits at all other than the toll fee?

[Kayela]

Does 520 have a dedicated lane for carpoolers? Also, do public transit riders get any benefits at all other than the toll fee?

There are currently two lanes that go in each direction. That is it. Not even a shoulder. Everyone squeezes into them - busses too. The benefit available to transit riders is that the westbound busses (but not eastbound) can take the HOV/transit lanes up to the bridge. This may sound like a little thing, and now that it's a toll road it's not the advantage it used to be, but when traffic is at a standstill for miles to get to the bridge - it's nice to be able to bypass it. Taking the bus at those times can shave 20-30 minutes off the commute. Those lanes then merge with regular traffic right before the bridge (westbound) and usually at that point traffic actually moves across the bridge. Unless there's an accident (see the part where there's no shoulder). Then everyone squeezes into one lane and glares at the most unlucky person in Seattle at that moment.

The new bridge will have dedicated HOV/transit lanes, a shoulder and bike lanes.

[evergraystate]

Originally Posted by neverize

Does 520 have a dedicated lane for carpoolers? Also, do public transit riders get any benefits at all other than the toll fee?

LOL what do you think this is the Bay Area? The 520 has a dedicated lane for slow and another dedicated lane for slower. Your choice.

[BellevueNative]

Back when 520 was built - before people like evergraystate moved to Seattle from California - hardly anyone lived on the eastside. At all. Bellevue was only incorporated as a city in the 60s. The bridge's capacity is limited by a number of factors: engineering/physics and environmental factors. Engineering/materials have come a long way since the original bridge was built, so the new bridge will have three lanes in each direction...however it must remain a floating bridge because Lake Washington is actually quite deep and it has a silty bottom, which makes it difficult to build a suspension bridge, for instance. But because it's a floating bridge, there is a limit to how many lanes it can hold.