After a delay due to weather, the Interstate 405/ State Route 167 Interchange Direct Connector is scheduled to open Thursday, Feb. 21.

The connector is a flyover ramp that connects carpool lanes, the ramp will be open as a carpool lane from 5 a.m, to 7 p.m., open to all vehicles 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. But vehicles over 10,000 gross vehicle weight are prohibited.

Gov. Jay Inslee, Mayor Denis Law, Renton councilmembers and other representatives were present for a ribbon cutting of the ramp Tuesday, Feb. 19. The ramp was meant to open Tuesday but there were delays due to weather.

The ceremony took place on the ramp leading to I-405. The project broke ground in 2016 and was completed four months ahead of schedule, originally estimated for Spring 2019.

In a press release, I-405/SR 167 Program Administrator Kim Henry said WSDOT was able to use savings from previous I-405 corridor projects to purchase the right-of-way to start construction as soon as they received funding from Connecting Washington fund package.

This is the first phase of the Renton to Bellevue Widening and Express Toll Lanes Project, which is meant to improve traffic conditions around the corridor. It is intended to solve issues caused by weaving traffic from HOV lanes merging across the roadway to exit into I-405 or SR 167, and then merging back to HOV lanes.