Due to rapid employment and residential growth in the area, there was an increasing need for an additional connection over State Route 520 (SR 520) to improve mobility of vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. The new Northeast 36th Street Bridge alleviates congestion on 148th Avenue NE and the Northeast 40th Street at their SR 520 interchanges.
Running diagonally over SR 520, the roadway crosses the highway at a 136-degree angle, rather than the more typical 90 degrees. The offset lid and diagonal placement allowed the bridge to be built using standard construction methods, producing a much more cost-efficient project and yielding minimal construction impacts on the major highway below.
