Skanska Selected to Rebuild Portage Bay Bridge as Part of the “Rest of the West” Final Improvements to the SR520 Corridor in Seattle

$1.4 billion project to replace the Portage Bay Bridge, the last in a series of bridges that provide seismically resilient connections between the communities east of Lake Washington and Seattle.

Seattle, WA – Skanska, a leading global construction and development firm, announced it has signed a contract with the Washington State Department of Transportation to replace the Portage Bay Bridge and create a lidded segment in the city of Seattle’s North Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The $1.4 billion design-build project will construct two new parallel bridges that meet current seismic resiliency standards. The project also will build a landscaped lid over SR 520 between 10th Avenue East and Delmar Drive East and improve regional mobility by completing the SR 520 Program’s transit & HOV enhancements between Redmond and Seattle.

The eastbound bridge span will extend the regional bicycle and pedestrian SR 520 Trail across Portage Bay, connecting to the city of Seattle’s non-motorized trail network. Construction of the landscaped lid over the highway will create nearly 3-acres of recreational open space and reconnect communities that were severed by the original construction of SR 520.

“Skanska is excited to deliver this critical piece of infrastructure. We are proud to partner with the Washington State Department of Transportation to address these critical infrastructure needs at the West end of the SR 520 Corridor where it connects to I-5,” said James Bailey, executive vice president of Skanska USA Civil’s West Coast operations. “Our work to replace the Portage Bay Bridge is an important piece of broader improvements to the SR 520 corridor, one of the busiest across the Puget Sound region. The project will work to ensure safer travel across the bay, improve mobility and add more connections to Seattle’s non-motorized trail network.”

Construction is anticipated to begin August 2024 and is slated for completion in 2031. AECOM will serve as the lead designer for the project. In Washington, Skanska has worked with the Washington State Department of Transportation and Sound Transit to build infrastructure construction projects and interchange improvements in the greater Seattle area. Projects include the Lynnwood Link Extension (L300), I-405 Brickyard to SR 527 Improvement, I-5 / SR16 Realignment and Alaskan Way Viaduct – Holgate to King.