Highway 522 closes this weekend in Bothell

Published 11:21 pm Friday, October 24, 2008

BOTHELL — Crews plan to shut down a segment of westbound Highway 522 this weekend through Monday morning, requiring drivers to take a six-mile detour.

State officials said the highway’s two westbound lanes would be closed between I-405 and Kaysner Way from 11 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday in order to connect the road to a new, lower roadway. The work is part of a $50.7 million project to build a new entrance to the south side of the University of Washington’s Bothell campus, where Cascadia Community College also operates.

In addition, workers plan to close lanes and ramps on I-405 this weekend, said Patty Michaud, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

“Really, we are trying to encourage drivers to avoid the area,” Michaud said. “If they really need to go there, they need to allow extra time.”

About 30,000 drivers typically head toward Bothell on westbound Highway 522 on a weekend, she said.

With westbound Highway 522 closed, drivers will have to detour by taking northbound I-405 and southbound Highway 527.

The university and the community college need to add a south access to their campus from Highway 522 to attract more students. They want to increase the number of full-time students from the current 3,000 to 10,000 in about a decade, according to the UW Bothell.

In late September, the state closed a section of eastbound Highway 522 over a weekend and connected the road to new, straighter lanes. That only caused a minor traffic backup, officials said.

Construction for the project started in April and is expected to wrap up in fall 2009. That’s several months ahead of the original schedule, Michaud said.

“Crews are going gangbusters,” she said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.