The pedestrian bridge over I-405 at Canyon Park Park & Ride was scheduled to close at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, and WSDOT planned to remove part of it during that weekend's southbound closure. Crews are scheduled to return tomorrow night to remove another section and the elevator tower.
Coverage of the weekend freeway closures has focused on traffic. The bigger change for anyone who uses Canyon Park is the one that lasts. Until the replacement bridge opens in 2028, the east and west sides of I-405 here work as two separate places. You used to walk from one to the other. Now you ride.
Crossing I-405 now takes a bus or an Uber
Community Transit's construction page says pedestrians can't use the bridge to cross I-405 starting Oct. 30, "until the new bridge is constructed in 2028." It offers two replacements, and both depend on a vehicle.
| If you need to cross | How it works through 2028 |
|---|---|
| During bus service hours | Board Route 106 or Route 120 at Canyon Park Park & Ride and get off at Bothell Way and 228th St SE. Between them, the two routes leave Canyon Park about every 20 to 30 minutes. |
| After bus service hours | Scan the QR code on the construction signs. It pre-loads an Uber ride across I-405 to roughly Bothell Way and 228th St, and the contractor provides the shuttle. |
The 20-to-30-minute figure matters most. Before Oct. 30, the bridge was open whenever you got there. Now a missed bus can mean waiting most of half an hour, then riding to 228th St SE, which isn't where the bridge used to land you. If you used the bridge every day, your commute now runs on a timetable.
Inside the lot, buses stop waiting for you
The bridge closure also moved stops around. Sound Transit's southbound flyer stop on I-405, stop #2736 or Bay 4, was scheduled to close at the same moment as the bridge. Southbound ST 532 and ST 535 now board at temporary Bay B inside the Park & Ride. Northbound 532 and 535 riders were already using Bay B, so both directions now share it. The temporary Swift Green Line station and temporary Bays A and B stay open.
The schedule has changed too. During construction, buses can't wait at the bays. Times posted for Canyon Park are estimates, and buses may arrive or leave before or after them. Community Transit asks riders to be at the stop at least five minutes early. This applies to local buses only, so Swift riders aren't affected.
Over the next two years, Community Transit expects:
- Construction confined to marked zones
- One-way traffic through the parking lot
- A new entry and exit along 17th Ave SE, which will move at different points in the work
- Marked walking paths between the lot, the local bus stops and the Swift station, which will be longer than usual during some phases
- Plenty of parking, even with some stalls closed
The walk from your car to your bus may change several times before 2028, and the bus won't wait if that walk takes longer.
Friday night, the whole facility moves off site
On a normal day, the bridge closure splits Canyon Park in two. From 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, to 5 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9, the Park & Ride closes completely while crews remove another bridge section and the elevator tower. Northbound I-405 also closes in Bothell from SR 522 to SR 527.
For bus riders that weekend, the details are specific:
- There's no bus service and no parking inside Canyon Park Park & Ride.
- Every route that normally serves Canyon Park, in both directions, uses a temporary stop on 20th Ave SE between 214th St SE and 220th St SE.
- That stop is about a 15-minute walk from the Park & Ride and isn't a regular bus stop. Northbound and southbound buses use the same curb, so check the head sign on the front of the bus.
- There's no parking at the Park & Ride or near the 20th Ave SE stop. Plan on being dropped off or walking in.
- ST 535 detours around the work zone, and Community Transit says to expect delays.
For drivers, WSDOT lists these closures for the same weekend:
- NE 132nd St and NE 160th St northbound on-ramps
- SR 522 northbound on-ramps at Exit 23
- NE 195th St northbound on- and off-ramps at Exit 24
- The northbound I-405 off-ramp to SR 527 at Exit 25
WSDOT says signed detours will be in place. The City of Bothell expects the detours won't be able to carry normal I-405 volumes, and its October news flash warns of severe delays and heavy congestion in Canyon Park, North Creek and Downtown Bothell. The City also asks drivers to stay on the marked routes:
"Drivers should follow official signed detours and avoid cutting through neighborhood streets."
WSDOT calls its schedules planning information that can change. Check the WSDOT Travel Center Map and WSDOT's construction page before you leave on Friday or Saturday.
If you'd rather stay in town on Saturday, the City of Bothell Arts Commission's Glorydays tabletop roleplaying game holds its third of four sessions at Bothell Library, 18215 98th Ave NE, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 7. That session is for adults. The last game is the following Saturday, Nov. 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at McMenamins Anderson School, 18607 Bothell Way NE. It's open to all ages, and you don't have to buy food or drinks to play. The library is downtown, one of the areas where the City expects detour traffic, so leave extra time if you're driving. Both sessions are listed on the City of Bothell calendar and funded by the Creative Arts Grant Program with support from 4Culture.
The new bridge will lead to a station in the middle of the freeway
All of this inconvenience has a purpose. The old bridge connected two sides of a Park & Ride. According to Community Transit, the new one will connect the Park & Ride with Bothell Everett Highway and give access to a new Sound Transit Stride bus rapid transit station in the center of the freeway. When the work is done, Canyon Park will also have:
- A new Swift Green Line station on 17th Ave SE
- A roundabout at the Park & Ride entrance on 17th Ave SE, with bike and pedestrian improvements
The Stride line that will stop in the middle of I-405 is S2. Sound Transit says it will run between Bellevue and Lynnwood and replace ST 535, the route now boarding at temporary Bay B. A second line, S3, will run Seattle to Shoreline to Bothell and replace route 522, with Bothell stations at 98th Ave NE, 104th Ave NE, UW Bothell/Cascadia College and Beardslee Blvd. The two lines will connect at a future Bothell/Woodinville Transit Center near I-405 and SR 522.
On timing, the agencies say roughly the same thing in different words. WSDOT's project page lists completion in spring 2028. Community Transit expects the replacement bridge in 2028. In its Oct. 26 release, Sound Transit says the Canyon Park inline station and bridge will open "later this decade." Its Stride program page says service could begin as soon as 2028. Treat 2028 as the target, not a promised opening date.
Until then, the 106 and 120 are how most people will cross I-405 at Canyon Park on foot. Your Bay B bus won't wait, and this weekend your stop is a 15-minute walk away on 20th Ave SE.
At FIRST AND MAIN, we keep an eye on projects like Canyon Park because they change how a block of Bothell works day to day long before they show up on a map. If the next two years of construction near Canyon Park and North Creek affect your plans for your home, we're happy to talk through what we're seeing. Book an Appointment and we'll start there.
