No, say it ain’t so! I-405 Renton-Bellevue completion delayed another 18 months!

I-405 through Kennydale is empty in this September 10, 2023 photo, as freeway traffic detours its way through Renton streets, during one of the contractor’s many disruptive and burdensome closures during the past few years.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) just announced the I-405 Renton to Bellevue widening project has fallen a year and a half behind schedule.  We’re just being told now, a few weeks before the “2025 expected completion” date that WSDOT had been sharing on their website for years.

Perhaps the worst part of the planned delay is that it will now stretch through TWO more summers, with presumably the same random full-freeway closures that we’ve endured the past few summers.  These freeway closures have created unexpected traffic jams throughout Renton and the eastside that make it very challenging to create and keep weekend travel plans.  The closures and jam-ups also make it difficult for residents to access emergency rooms and pharmacies when they need to.

Our State Department of Transportation needs to crack down on the contractor’s use of full freeway closures as part of their discussions with the contractor about the new timeline.  Twenty years ago such full closures were virtually unheard of;  meticulous planning would enable freeways to be worked on a lane at a time.  But this past summer it felt like the freeway contractors were throwing random full-closures of a north or south direction at us every other weekend– and the unofficial detour routes always went through our neighborhoods, keeping us virtually stuck at home.

Below is a screenshot of the Washington State Department of Transportation blog entry announcing the delay.

Even when the freeway lanes are not closed, the construction is causing jams, even during non-peak hours. This photo on Saturday July 19th at noon (taken by my passenger) shows a typical off-peak stop-and-go slowdown on I-405.