The following is a release from the Washington State Department of Transportation:

State Route 520 will close to traffic this weekend for the last annual inspection of the highway’s 52-year-old floating bridge. Closures on the highway can increase traffic on SR 522 through Bothell and Kenmore.

Contractor crews for the Washington State Department of Transportation also will take advantage of the end-of-an-era road closure to conduct key construction work on the new SR 520 floating bridge and its connecting highway.

Crews will close both directions of SR 520 and ramps between 92nd Avenue Northeast and Montlake Boulevard.

The closure starts at 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, with lanes and ramps reopening at noon on Sunday, Aug. 16. The westbound Transit/HOV lane between 84th Avenue Northeast and Evergreen Point Road will remain closed until 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17.

“You might say this highway closure marks the beginning of the end for the old floating bridge,” said Dave Becher, director of construction for the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program. “In less than a year, cars will be crossing Lake Washington on the new bridge. And when that happens, we start the process of dismantling the existing bridge and removing it from the lake.”

For decades WSDOT crews have closed the four-lane, cross-lake bridge for one weekend each year to thoroughly inspect the structure and perform needed maintenance, primarily on its drawspan. The new, six-lane floating bridge, with higher navigation channels for boats to pass underneath, won’t have a drawspan.

During this weekend’s bridge-maintenance closure, contractor crews for WSDOT will work on a variety of SR 520 construction projects, including:

· Restriping of realigned SR 520 traffic lanes between Evergreen Point Road and Lake Washington’s eastern shore.

· Installing permanent toll signs in both directions of SR 520 just east of the Evergreen Point Road lid.

· Installing electrical conduit along a portion of the Eastside’s westbound transit lane. This work requires the closure of the westbound transit lane between 84th Avenue Northeast and Evergreen Point Road until 5 a.m. Monday.

· Fine-tuning newly installed tolling equipment. Drivers will continue to see flashing lights near 84th Avenue Northeast, but the new equipment will not charge any tolls until testing is complete later this year.

Motorists traveling between Seattle and the Eastside should use alternative routes during the weekend closure. For information on upcoming road closures and construction activity associated with the SR 520 construction program, please visit the SR 520 Orange Page and follow the project on Twitter. For information regarding possible road-closure disruptions to Metro Transit service, please visit the Metro Online website.