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The Third Lake Washington Bridge, officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges, carrying the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 and two tracks of Sound Transit's 2 Line across Lake Washington between Mercer Island and Seattle. The floating bridge is the fifth-longest of its kind in the world, at 5,811 feet (1,772 m).
HistoryEdit
A third floating bridge on Lake Washington was proposed in the 1950s during construction of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge to the north. After several locations were considered, a span parallel to the existing Lake Washington Floating Bridge (now the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge) was chosen in the 1960s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first pontoon for the new bridge was floated from Everett to Lake Washington in September 1983.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The bridge opened in June 1989 and was named in 1993 for Homer More Hadley, who designed the bridge's companion span, the parallel Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Hadley also designed the McMillin Bridge in Pierce County.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It originally carried bidirectional traffic while the older Murrow Bridge underwent extensive renovations.<ref name="WSDOT-History">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On November 25, 1990, sections of the Murrow Bridge sank during a windstorm that flooded several pontoons; the sinking sections also severed 13 of the 58 anchor cables of the Hadley Bridge, which remained closed for several days.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following the reopening of the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, two reversible high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes were set up on the Hadley Bridge to accommodate the traffic flow between Seattle and the suburban Eastside (westbound in the morning, eastbound in the evenings).<ref name="WSDOT-History"/> The lanes were opened to all Mercer Island commuters, including single-occupant vehicles, per a 1978 agreement negotiated by the city government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The reversible lanes were planned to be converted for light rail use at a future date, but design issues prevented a simple conversion from being feasible.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Sound Transit and the Washington State Department of Transportation added HOV lanes to the bridge's westbound lanes in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> This preceded construction of the 2 Line, a light rail line from downtown Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond which will use the former reversible express lanes. When this section of the 2 Line, scheduled to be completed in 2025,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> begins operation, it will be the first permanent railroad on a floating bridge. (In a temporary capacity, the Maxau Pontoon Rhine Bridge of 1865 in Germany preceded it.Template:Citation needed) The light rail line will employ a set of floating spans for tracks on the transition between pontoons and the fixed spans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
UsageEdit
The bridge carries four westbound lanes, including a HOV lane, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian path on the north side. The path is Template:Convert wide and includes two barriers: a Template:Convert outer railing and a Template:Convert concrete barrier facing traffic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Prior to 2017, it also carried two reversible lanes, configured to normally carry westbound traffic on weekday mornings and eastbound traffic at other times. Use of the reversible express lanes was restricted to HOV traffic, except for vehicles traveling to and from Mercer Island. The express lanes were closed to road traffic on June 5, 2017, rebuilt for light rail and are dedicated for the trains of "East Link Extension" (opening planned in 2025).
With a total of five traffic lanes and three full-sized shoulders, the Third Lake Washington Bridge was the widest floating bridge in the world, until the completion of the new Evergreen Point Floating Bridge in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>