The SR 520 Montlake project is part of a $4.91 billion program to improve the critical highway.
Photo courtesy WSDOT
ENR Northwest has chosen the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) as its 2024 owner. The 119-year-old agency oversees more than 20,000 miles of roadway lanes, 3,000 vehicle bridges and a number of railway lines, ferries and airports.
The agency earned this year’s honor with a recent history of successful projects and a strong list of major ongoing efforts. In recent years, the agency has unveiled a number of major projects, including the 2019 opening of the $3.29 billion SR 99 tunnel (part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct program) and the 2016 reconstruction of the longest floating bridge of the world, part of state route 520. .
WSDOT continues to move forward with hundreds of active projects, including revitalization projects on Interstate 5 in Seattle, which closes the $3.35 billion Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project, continued bridge work associated with the 4,910 SR 520 program million dollar mountain pass projects as part of the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass phase and major additions to the I-405/SR 167 project schedule.
In 2023, WSDOT replaced the Winona trestle two months after a wildfire destroyed it and now continues the Fish Passage Program to correct barriers to fish reaching natural habitat. In June, 114 fish barriers were fixed, opening 502 miles of fish habitat, and the program is on track to have approximately 300 fixes under construction contract by December, which will complete about 80% of the required work.
You can read more about WSDOT in the April issue of ENR California & Northwest.
