Washington State Route 520

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State Route 520
Auxiliary route of

I-5

Defined by RCW 47.17.720, maintained by WSDOT

Length:

12.82 mi^[1] (20.63 km)

West end:

I-5 in Seattle

Major
junctions:

I-405 in Bellevue

East end:

SR 202 in Redmond

State highways in Washington
< SR 519		SR 522 >
Lists: current - Interstates - 1937-70 - 1964 renumbering

State Route 520 is a state highway and freeway in the U.S. state of Washington. It extends 12.82 miles from Seattle in the west to Redmond in the east.

1 Route description
2 Ongoing improvements
3 Ghost ramps
4 Exit list
5 Gallery
6 Related routes
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Route description

Originating at Interstate 5 in Seattle at the north end of Capitol Hill just south of Roanoke Park, it crosses Portage Bay on a viaduct, runs through the Montlake neighborhood, and from there runs on a causeway through the marshlands of the Washington Park Arboretum and across Foster Island. It crosses Lake Washington on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (1963)--at 7,578 feet, the longest floating bridge in the world--to Medina. From there, it separates Hunts Point and Yarrow Point to the north from Clyde Hill to the south. Intersecting with Interstate 405 in Bellevue, it then runs through Redmond, bisects the Microsoft campus, passes Nintendo of America Headquarters, crosses the Sammamish River and Bear Creek, and ends at Avondale Road N.E.

[edit] Ongoing improvements

Because of massive residential, commercial, and industrial growth in the Eastside over the past 10 years, several projects have been proposed to improve the entire stretch of State Route 520. One notable project is the replacement of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge with a new structure.

Replacement of Evergreen Point Floating Bridge and highway expansion between Interstate 5 and Interstate 405.
Widening of highway between West Lake Sammamish Parkway and State Route 202, along with new and improved ramps.
Expansion of interchange with 148th Avenue NE in Bellevue's Overlake neighborhood.
Eastbound collector-distributor lanes between Interstate 405 and 124th Avenue NE.

[edit] Ghost ramps

SR 520 features a set of ghost ramps in the marshlands of Washington Park Arboretum. They are often referred to as "ramps to nowhere". However, there are 2 ramps currently used for the Westbound 520 off ramp connection to the Washington Park Arboretum while the other serves as an on ramp only to SR 520 Eastbound. The others are unused. They were originally part of a plan to build the R. H. Thompson Expressway which would have cut through the arboretum and down through Seattle towards the I-90/I-5 interchange. Citizens rallied a freeway revolt against the plan on May 4, 1969. Construction near the Arboretum later continued but citizen protest eventually won out and the plan was dropped in 1971.

The freeway-fighting movement that stopped the R. H. Thompson Expressway had its origins in opposition to SR 520 itself. Architect Victor Steinbrueck, writing in 1962, objected to the "naked brutaility of unimaginative structures such as this proposed crossing of Portage Bay, which eliminates fifty houseboats while casting its shadow and noise across this tranquil boat haven."^[2]

[edit] Exit list

The entire route is in King County.

Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Seattle	0.00	I-5 – Portland, Vancouver	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	0.19	Roanoke Street, Harvard Avenue	Westbound exit only
	0.94	Montlake Boulevard (SR 513) – University of Washington
	1.31	Lake Washington Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	3.07	Evergreen Point Floating Bridge over Lake Washington
Medina	3.07	Evergreen Point Floating Bridge over Lake Washington
Hunts Point	4.59	84th Avenue Northeast	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill	5.17	92nd Avenue Northeast	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Bellevue	5.97	Bellevue Way Northeast, Lake Washington Boulevard Northeast	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR 908
	6.27	108th Avenue Northeast	No eastbound exit
	6.93	I-405 – Renton, Everett
	7.52	124th Avenue Northeast	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	9.17	148th Avenue Northeast
Redmond	9.17	148th Avenue Northeast
	10.13	Northeast 40th Street
	10.73	Northeast 51st Street
	11.79	West Lake Sammamish Parkway Northeast	Former SR 901
	12.73	SR 202 (Redmond Way) – Fall City, Woodinville
	12.82	Avondale Road	Continuation beyond SR 202

[edit] Gallery

SR 520 looking south from the N.E. 51st Street overpass. Mount Rainier is in the background.

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge at night

[edit] Related routes

	v • d • e State highways in Washington related to I-5
SR 500 - SR 501 - SR 502 - SR 503 (Spur) - SR 504 (Spur) - SR 505 - SR 506 - SR 507 - SR 508 - SR 509 - SR 510 - SR 512 - SR 513 - SR 515 - SR 516 - SR 518 - SR 519 - SR 520 - SR 522 - SR 523 - SR 524 (Spur: Edmonds, Lynnwood) - SR 525 (Spur) - SR 526 - SR 527 - SR 528 - SR 529 (Spur) - SR 530 - SR 531 - SR 532 - SR 534 - SR 536 - SR 538 - SR 539 - SR 542 - SR 543 - SR 544 - SR 546 - SR 547 - SR 548 - SR 599
Former or proposed state routes: SR 514 - SR 537 - SR 540