NORTH SOUND, JULY 18: Summer is here with warm temperatures and dry conditions – the perfect time for road projects. Get ready for delays on many major arterials for the rest of summer, if not beyond. Here is a breakdown of roadwork that likely will impact commutes in Snohomish and King counties.
Snohomish County
The big enchilada in the county is southbound I-5 from 41st to the Boeing Freeway – SR 526. This 4-mile 14-week paving project is set to start this weekend on Saturday, July 19. Crews plan to close as many as four of the six lanes, and that includes daytime and overnight work. The paving project will replace aging bridge joints, traffic loops and pavement markings.
This paving project will also require occasional closures of on and off ramps. Signed detours will assist drivers to the next available ramp.
Once this $6.1 million project is done this fall, the soundbound I-5 drive will be a smooth ride.
Another key I-5 project is getting close to the finish line. That project is the new SR 529 interchange just south of Marysville. The new intersection will provide a northbound off-ramp to SR 529, taking traffic pressure off the Marysville 4th Street ramp. In addition, a new SR 529 to southbound I-5 ramp will open. SR 529 will have roundabouts with these new I-5 ramps.
This I-5/SR 529 interchange project remains on track to be completed this fall.
Work on the Edgewater Bridge along Mukilteo Blvd continues to make progress. While the roadway is closed on either side of the bridge, road crews plan to do some paving from Glenwood Ave. to Dogwood Dr. starting late July. Expect single lane closures. The current detours remain in place.
Revive I-5 in Seattle
The northbound I-5 mainline in Seattle closes for the weekend at 11:59 p.m. Friday, July 18, through 5 a.m. Monday, July 21, from I-90 to Northeast 45th Street. There will be no access from I-90 to northbound I-5. Northbound freeway traffic will detour via the express lanes, but there are no exits to downtown Seattle from the express lanes. People going downtown should use exits to Edgar Martinez Drive or Dearborn, James or Madison streets, or use eastbound I-90 to Rainier Avenue. Courtesy of Washington State Dept. of Transportation.
Okay Seattle drivers, brace yourself. This weekend, northbound I-5 from I-90 to 45th Street in the U District will be entirely closed. This closure is so that road crews can establish work zones for the planned start to repaving the Ship Canal Bridge. When the freeway reopens on Monday morning, only two northbound lanes will be open.
To relieve traffic pressure going northbound on the main line, the express lanes will be going in the northbound direction full time. This plan for traffic flow is expected until Friday, August 15, when the entire northbound main line will again close for the weekend so crews can remove all their gear and get the entire freeway ready to reopen on Monday, August 18.
This is only the start of the entire Ship Canal Bridge paving project. More is planned in 2026, and even more is planned to rehabilitate the stretch of the freeway from Mercer Street all the way to Northgate.
“There’s no good time to do this sort of work, but it has to be done,” Tom Pearce, Communications Specialist for Washington State Dept. of Transportation’s (WSDOT) said. The bridge was built in the mid-1960s and has had but one repaving project since the 1980s. WSDOT has conducted several hundred pothole repairs in recent years.
“We’re going to repave up to about 20% of those two left lanes and do bridge deck repairs during our month-long lane reduction,” Pearce said.
Southbound I-5 Impacts
With the express lanes operating full time going northbound, that means southbound traffic will remain solely on the main line. Weekday afternoons and weekends have demonstrated major slowdowns and backups on southbound I-5 when the express lanes are going northbound. Expect significant delays going into downtown Seattle from Snohomish County until this project finishes in mid-August.
“We really want people to consider alternatives, like transit. Light rail is a great way to get around. Consider carpooling,” Pearce said. “Think about if you can shift your schedule. Some people have some flexibility.”
This Revive I-5 project was planned to start this weekend, following the I-405 closures last weekend. That freeway is now a great alternative to go around Seattle if heading further south than the Emerald City.
Pearce concluded, “WSDOT did what it could to pick the least impactful time to do it.”
