Max J. Kuney Co., of Spokane, has begun construction on a westbound high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane and other improvements on Interstate 90 east of Seattle in its portion of a Washington state Department of Transportation project.


Kuney bid $22.5 million for that contract.


The companys work will be the first phase of a three-phase project designed to add new high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and to add new on-and-off ramps along I-90 in the Seattle, Bellevue, and Mercer Island areas. DOTs latest estimated total cost for that project is about $148 million.


Steve Busch, chief estimator for Kuney, says the Spokane companys phase will be done mostly on Mercer Island and will take about a year and a half to complete.


Theyre trying to get some more capacity out of the main line by widening the freeway, he says.


The addition of a concrete HOV lane on the outside of a three-mile westbound stretch of I-90 on Mercer Island between East Mercer Way and SE 80th, and the construction of a bridge ramp at the SE 80th westbound exit are major components of Kuneys first-phase work, he says. Work along that stretch of I-90 will include grading, drainage improvements, and the construction of some retaining walls, he says.


Currently, the three-mile stretch of I-90 between East Mercer Way and SE 80th includes three lanes of traffic in each direction and two reversible HOV lanes in the middle of the freeway where buses and high-occupancy cars and vans are allowed to drive in only one direction at different times of day, Busch says.


DOT says an eastbound HOV lane on the other outside edge of the freeway will be part of the projects second phase.


Also, just east of the twin I-90 bridges that span Lake Washington between Mercer Island and Bellevue, Kuney will do signage, electrical, and information-technology services work along another 4.6 miles of I-90, says Busch.


No funding money is available now to fund the third phase of work, and no timelines have been set for that final phase of the project, DOT says.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.