Future
Originally intended as a bypass to I-5 through Seattle, I-405 has experienced a large increase in traffic volume since its construction. I-405 is now the most congested freeway in Washington State, particularly the segment between State Route 169 and I-90.
Currently underway is the Nickel Project, which in 2003 originally included three planned improvements for I-405:
- The construction of one lane in each direction between SE 8th and I-90, replacing the Wilburton Tunnel.
- The construction of one northbound lane from NE 70th to NE 124th, and one southbound lane from SR 522 to SR 520.
- The construction of one northbound lane from SR 181 to SR 167, and one southbound lane from SR 169 to SR 167.
In 2005, the "Renton to Bellevue Project" was added as part of the Nickel Project, and would have added two lanes in each direction between SR 169 and I-90. However, in November 2007, voters rejected the ballot measure which would have provided the additional funds necessary for this project. At this time the project is still largely unfunded. The web site "Road to Ruin" ranks the widening of I-405 as the fourth most wasteful highway project in the United States. The project is designed to help traffic move smoother on I-405.
Read more about this topic: Interstate 405 (Washington)
Famous quotes containing the word future:
“There are many of us who cannot but feel dismal about the future of various cultures. Often it is hard not to agree that we are becoming culinary nitwits, dependent upon fast foods and mass kitchens and megavitamins for our basically rotten nourishment.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)
“At sixty, I would like to give my future back its vistas of uncertainty.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“It is a time when one’s spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)