Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge
Coordinates: 47 ° 35 '23 " N , 122 ° 16' 10" W.
 Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge
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| use | Interstate 90 westward | |
| Crossing of | Lake Washington | |
| place | Seattle , Washington | |
| Entertained by | Washington State Department of Transportation | |
| Building number | 90 / 25N | |
| construction | Pontoon bridge | |
| overall length | 1772 m | |
| width | 3 + 2 lanes | |
| opening | June 4th 1989 | |
| location | ||
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The Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge , unofficially also Third Lake Washington Bridge or Mercer Island Bridge , is the fifth longest pontoon bridge in the world with a length of 1772 m . It leads westward leading carriageway and originally used in alternating directions lanes of Interstate 90 across the Lake Washington between Mercer Iceland and Seattle . The bridge is named after Homer More Hadley , who designed the parallel Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge , built half a century earlier . The bridge was opened to traffic on June 4, 1989.
With a total of five lanes and three hard shoulders , the structure is the widest pontoon bridge in the world. Two of the lanes could be used in both directions, depending on the traffic, with it normally being opened in the mornings during the week to the west towards Seattle and the rest of the time to the east. These lanes are high-occupancy vehicle lanes ( HOV lanes ) that can only be used by car pools and vehicles to and from Mercer Island.
The official name of the bridge is largely unknown among local residents. They often call both bridge structures together simply Mercer Island Bridge or differentiate between new bridge and old bridge , whereby this distinction is ambiguous because the old bridge , the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, is new after the inauguration of the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge was built because it was badly damaged during renovation work. Both bridges together are often referred to as the I-90 floating bridge .
Current construction plans
When the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge was built parallel to the existing Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge , the two carpooling lanes that could be used in alternating directions were intended to improve the flow of traffic between Seattle and the east bank of Lake Washington. As a result, the car pools driving in the other direction were forced to use the lanes for general traffic. Due to the increasing traffic density in Seattle, Mercer Island and Bellevue , they often got stuck in traffic jams. The Washington State Department of Transportation was therefore examining ways to improve the situation.
In the meantime, after long and thorough preparation, the decision has been made to run a Light Rail Transit over the bridge. The two lanes originally used as HOV lanes are to be converted into tracks for them. For this purpose, an HOV lane was set up on each of the two I-90 floating bridges in June 2017 , which are used permanently in the respective direction. The opening of the new route is planned for 2023. It is the first time that a railway has crossed a pontoon bridge (apart from the Maxau Rhine bridge , which was set up as a pontoon bridge with rail traffic as early as 1865).
Individual evidence
- ^ NRHP Washington State Historic Highway Bridges. (PDF; 77 kB) (No longer available online.) WSDOT, March 21, 2013, archived from the original on December 2, 2013 ; accessed on November 26, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ "Uniquely Northwest: Washington State is home to many of the world's amazing floating bridges" ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Hood Canal Bridge News, Summer 2003, p. 2. (PDF)
- ↑ a b Jessica Lee: From the archives: A look back at the I-90 floating bridges before light-rail work begins. Article dated May 11, 2017 on SeattleTimes.com
- ↑ Rachelle Cunningham: Next steps for light rail across I-90. Article dated June 6, 2017 on SoundTransit.org
