WSDOT Opens New 80th Ave SE Bus-Carpool I-90 Ramp Today

The latest milestone in a nearly 15-year partnership between Sound Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation happens at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 29, with the opening of a new HOV lane on eastbound I-90 from Mercer Island to Bellevue.

To mark the occasion, representative from both agencies and partner cities will be there to open Mercer Island’s newly aligned 80th Avenue Southeast on-ramp with direct access to eastbound I-90’s new mainline HOV lane.

A ribbon-cutting event will be held to mark the completion of the second phase of the I-90 Two-Way Transit and HOV Operations project. The ceremony will be held at the east end of the.

With phase two complete, so are full-time HOV lanes in both directions of I-90 between Mercer Island and Bellevue. Currently in design, the project’s third and final phase will extend full-time HOV lanes in both directions between Mercer Island and Seattle and set the stage for Sound Transit to begin construction on East Link light rail.