Don’t say you weren’t warned. I-405 will close in downtown Bellevue on April 2-3.

Construction crews will close all lanes of I-405, in both directions, between N.E. 8th Street and SR-520 the weekend of April 2-3 to remove the old N.E. 12th Street bridge. Crews must close the freeway because they can’t safely take down the bridge while traffic passes under it.

The closure will impact nearly 450,000 vehicles, the number that uses this portion of I-405 on a given weekend. The closure is Washington State Department of Transportation’s biggest this construction season.

Removing the bridge will allow crews to finish building a new, longer, wider bridge over I-405 at N.E. 12th Street. The state is replacing the bridge to make room for new northbound ramps from N.E. 8th and N.E. 10th streets. The project is designed to improve safety and traffic flow between I-405 and SR-520. Crews will close I-405 in both directions from Friday, April 1, at 11 p.m. to Monday, April 4, at 4 a.m. Crews will also close N.E. 12th Street from 112th Avenue N.E. to 116th Avenue N.E. and many area ramps during the same weekend.

Motorists are urged to use alternate routes or defer trips during the 53-hour closure period as the state anticipates congestion throughout the region. Northbound I-405 off-ramps will be open as far as N.E. 8th Street. Southbound drivers will detour via SR-520 to 108th Avenue N.E.

The state recommends that motorists use recommended regional routes unless they plan to visit Bellevue. Downtown Bellevue will be open for business. Drivers should expect heavy traffic on the detour routes and throughout the region.