People who drive on eastbound Interstate 90 through Bellevue will notice a new traffic pattern and a slower speed limit beginning early Wednesday, Aug. 23. The traffic shift signals the start of major construction on the I-90 Sunset Creek fish passage project.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close multiple ramps and travel lanes overnight on eastbound I-90 between I-405 and 148th Avenue Southeast from Tuesday, Aug. 22, to Thursday morning, Aug. 24. Crews will use the closures to restripe the roadway and set a work zone on the right side of the freeway.

Five eastbound travel lanes will remain open in the new traffic configuration, but the speed limit will drop to 50 mph through the work zone. The new speed limit will remain in place for more than a year while crews build a new bridge over Sunset Creek across the width of eastbound I-90.

Lane closures

• Four left lanes of eastbound I-90 will close from 12:01 to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 23, for a rolling traffic slowdown.
• Two right lanes of eastbound I-90 will close from 9 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, to 5 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 24.

Ramp closures

• The ramp from northbound and southbound I-405 to eastbound I-90 will close from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly from Tuesday, Aug. 22, to Thursday morning, Aug. 24. A signed detour will be available.
• The ramp from eastbound I-90 to 142nd Avenue Southeast will close from 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, to 5 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23.

Sunset Creek passes through culverts that block fish passage under Southeast Eastgate Way, both directions of I-90, and Southeast 36th Street. Atkinson Construction, working for WSDOT, will remove the culverts and build four new bridges over the waterway.

The $109.5 million I-90 Sunset Creek project is part of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s 2030 Fish Passage Delivery Plan to comply with the requirements of a U.S. District Court injunction to correct barriers to salmon and steelhead, and open 90% of blocked habitat by 2030.