Remember: Bellevue I-405 Northbound Lanes Close This Weekend

BELLEVUE — It's already going to be a rough travel weekend along I-405, so let's hope we don't get another truck accident in the middle of it (with a 100-gallon fuel spill).

Starting at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, all northbound lanes in downtown Bellevue between Northeast 10th and Main Street will close until 5 a.m. Monday. Traffic will be squeezed around the closure through the collector-distributor lanes.

All-day Saturday — from 10 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Saturday — the off-ramp at Northeast 8th Street and the Northeast 4th Street on-ramp to I-405 will both close.

Why the closures? Contractors working for Sound Transit are removing temporary support structures from the light rail bridge that spans I-405 just south of Northeast 6th Street.

It'll be painful for drivers for one day, but Sound Transit says that without the closures, crews would've had to spread the work out over 20 weeks. So for Sunday, Sound Transit and WSDOT recommend avoiding the area completely. Take the bus, walk, or bike instead. The East Link light rail line should be up and running by 2023.