Evergreen Point Floating Bridge

Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (1963)
The bridge in 2009. Column-supported high-rises near the ends of the bridge are connected by a floating section.
Carries	4 lanes of SR 520
Crosses	Lake Washington
Locale	Seattle to Medina (Washington, U.S.)
Official name	Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge
Maintained by	Washington State Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Design	Pontoon bridge with movable midsections
Total length	7,578 ft (2,310 m)
History
Opened	August 28, 1963
Closed	April 22, 2016
Replaced by	Evergreen Point Floating Bridge replacement (2016)

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, and commonly called the SR 520 Bridge or 520 Bridge, was a floating bridge in the U.S. state of Washington that carried State Route 520 across Lake Washington from the Montlake/Union Bay district of Seattle to Medina.

The bridge's total length was approximately 4,750 meters (15,580 ft). Its 2,310 meters (7,580 ft) floating section was the longest floating bridge in the world until April 11, 2016, when its replacement exceeded it by 130 feet.

The bridge was named for Evergreen Point, the westernmost of the three small Eastside peninsulas that SR 520 crosses. (The other two are Hunts Point and Yarrow Point.) In 1988, it was renamed for the state's 15th governor, Albert D. Rosellini, who had advocated its construction.

The existing bridge was determined to be in poor condition and a large seismic risk. Construction on a replacement began in 2012; the new bridge opened in April 2016. The original bridge was closed to traffic on April 22, 2016.

The bridge was opened for commuter traffic on August 28, 1963, after three years of construction. It was built as a four-lane toll bridge to provide easy access from Seattle to Eastside communities such as Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond. The total cost of the bridge, in 1961 dollars, was $21 million (at least $127 million in 2011 dollars). To make up for this cost, commuters paid a 35-cent toll in each direction until 1979. The toll booths were then converted into bus stops.