SR 520 Eastside Transit & HOV Design-Build Project Wins ACEC Washington Award

On January 19, 2018, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Washington (ACEC-WA) held their 51st Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala with 300 people in attendance. The Engineering Excellence Awards are presented annually to transportation projects in the private and public sector. These projects are judged based on a set list of criteria including complexity, innovation, and value to society by a panel of industry experts. This year, 32 firms submitted their transportation projects and competed for these prestigious awards. Lochner’s SR 520 Eastside Transit & HOV Project was among the select projects recognized, having received the Silver Award for Complex Transportation Projects.

SR 520 is a busy regional corridor, carrying approximately 80,000 annual average daily traffic (AADT) at the mid-point between Lake Washington and I-405. The corridor connects Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Medina, Clyde Hill, and the “Points” communities to Seattle and the University of Washington. Lochner was the lead designer for this $365 million, 2.5-mile urban highway improvement project to provide needed congestion relief through the SR 520 corridor. Project elements included transit and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV)/managed lane improvements, four interchanges, two transit stations with over 700 buses a day, and three urban lids, totaling approximately 300,000 square feet, which provide overcrossing connectivity, as well as unique community amenities such as open space gathering areas and transit-user transfer facilities. Aiding the project’s emphasis on connectivity, the design also included three pedestrian bridges with lengths up to 78 feet, three pedestrian tunnels with lengths up to 280 feet, and a bike/pedestrian regional trail parallel to the highway. A multiphase traffic control plan was developed to maintain existing traffic during peak hours, transit station access, and interchange ramp access. Design of the west end of the project was coordinated to operate with the connection to the existing floating bridge, as well as to connect with the new future floating bridge.

This project has also won the Quality of Life/Community Development award from the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO), the Excellence in Concrete Construction Award from the Washington Aggregates and Concrete Association, and was named one of the Top 10 Roads (#7) by Roads and Bridges magazine, which recognizes the best roads in the United States.