SNOHOMISH COUNTY, SEPT. 26: The first full weekend of fall is forecasted to be a dry one and the Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) plans to take full advantage as the summer roadwork season draws to an end. WSDOT has nicknamed this weekend as a “Monster Traffic” weekend with all the planned projects and closures.
Fortunately, the Seattle Seahawks are out of town for their Monday Night Football contest in Detroit, and the Washington Huskies are playing in their first Big-10 Conference football game at Rutgers on Saturday. Yet, the Seattle Mariners have their final 3-game series of the season against the Oakland A’s at home. And there are many other activities planned throughout the region this weekend.
So as WSDOT has put it, this weekend has the potential for “Monster Traffic”, and it is wise to know what projects and road closures are planned so alternate plans can be made in advance. Here is what is planned for this weekend with detour signage at each location.
SR 520
Once again, the stretch from Interstate-5 to 92nd Ave just east of Lake Washington will close for more Mountlake area roadwork from 11 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday morning. All accompanying ramps will also be closed.
NB 405
The I-405 widening project between Bellevue and Renton continues. More roadwork will close the northbound lanes from Sunset Blvd to Coal Creek Parkway from 11 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Monday morning. All adjacent ramps will also close. Expect southbound lanes to be quite slow as motorists gander at all the action on the other side of the freeway.
SR 167
South of the I-405 roadwork will be another closure for southbound traffic on SR 167. More roadwork will close the stretch from SR 516 to South 277th from midnight Friday to 4 a.m. Monday morning with the accompanying ramps also closed.
I-5
I-5 will not be immune to this busy roadwork weekend. The big closure in both directions will be from SR 16 to 54th Ave in Fife as crews install new overpass girders and demolish the nearby old overpass. This effort is a nightly closure starting at 10:30 p.m. Friday. All lanes in both directions are planned to reopen by 11 a.m. Saturday. All lanes will close again overnight Saturday night and reopen by noon on Sunday.
I-5 at Mercer Street
Also, along I-5, all Mercer Street ramps in downtown Seattle will close starting at 10 p.m. Friday and reopen around 5 a.m. Monday, in time for the morning commute. More roadwork is planned for these ramps.
SR 529 Snohomish Bridge Project Update
If there is any good news on Snohomish County Road projects, the SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge rehabilitation project is on schedule. Traffic has been detoured onto the southbound bridge with one lane in each direction since last spring. The northbound bridge is expected to reopen sometime in October.
I-5 Marine View Drive to SR 529 Update
This project continues to make good progress thanks to the overall dry weather this summer. The HOV lane extended north earlier this summer has helped ease backups through downtown Everett. The last remaining part of the project is creating I-5 access ramps from SR 529 and building roundabouts at the bottom of these new ramps. That part of the project is slated to reach the finish line next spring.
The big message here is if you have plans to head south of Snohomish County this weekend, plan for these road closures and expect heavy traffic volumes. At least the recent paving project on I-405 between SR 522 and Canyon Park is finished.
