All four lanes and the sidewalks of Montlake Bridge will be blocked this weekend, as workers calibrate freshly installed parts in the 97-year-old drawspans.
The closure runs from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday, in both directions, as the state reaches the final stages of its $7.4 million bridge renovation.
Contractors from Hamilton Construction will reinstall the mechanical center lock, and they will adjust the renovated decks so they line up flush with each other when lowered, said Joe Calabro, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation. This work is a follow-up to bridge rebalancing, which is routine after major renovations. The bridge requires adjustment and rebalancing because its steel decks were replaced in 2021, which added weight to the pivoting spans.
Drivers who use the bridge, normally about 60,000 per day, must find detours. Small shuttle buses will be provided at either end of Montlake Bridge to carry people across the water using University Bridge or I-5. Transit buses will detour, but Sound Transit light rail will operate as usual, directly between Capitol Hill Station and University of Washington Station.
A final closure, of one or two weekend days, is expected this spring, to repave approach lanes where WSDOT says asphalt surfacing last summer wasn’t compacted enough to meet state standards, Calabro said.
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