Mainline NB I-5 closure this weekend in Seattle
Here's a reminder for people driving through Seattle: All mainline lanes of northbound Interstate 5 will close Saturday and Sunday, all the way from Interstate 90 to Northeast 45th Street, while paving contractors remove machines and concrete barriers from the Ship Canal Bridge.
Express lanes will point northbound all weekend.
The freeway will then fully reopen in advance of six FIFA Men's World Cup soccer matches. There will be four northbound bridge lanes, instead of only two during repaving. And to the relief of southbound drivers between Lynnwood and downtown Seattle, who often endure sluggish one-hour trips, the I-5 express lanes will point south during the morning commute.
After the World Cup, there's another weekend closure July 11-12, before northbound paving resumes, and shifts into the I-5 bridge's two right lanes.
During this weekend's disruption, ramps and lanes will gradually close from 9 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. Friday, and reopen by 5 a.m. Monday. Northbound I-5 drivers will be funneled into either the express lanes, to eastbound I-90, or into exit lanes for Dearborn, James and Madison streets. Those entering Seattle on I-90 will be funneled into Sodo via the Edgar Martinez Drive interchange, with no access to I-5's downtown exits.
Drivers can get into the express lanes using their downtown ramps at Cherry Street, Pike-Pine (carpools only), Howell Street and Mercer Street.
The $178 million job replaces crumbling concrete, on a bridge that carries more than a quarter-million people daily, and became a state and national symbol of neglect. Northbound surface restoration should end late this year, to be followed by a full year of repaving southbound - and future contracts from downtown to Northgate or beyond.
With the mainline traffic being restored mid-June, the Washington State Department of Transportation will replace up to 89 broken concrete panels in the express lanes, starting with this coming Monday through Thursday nights, when northbound traffic closes at 9 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.
On the Eastside, WSDOT said it's canceling a scheduled work closure of the Highway 18/I-90 junction in Snoqualmie this weekend, because of rain in the weather forecast.
Summer roadwork statewide will be limited or suspended during the summer of soccer until mid-July. Sound Transit and WSDOT both crammed in extensive work this spring, before world travelers arrive. Regional road and rail mobility should be OK, while six game days could bring extreme gridlock around the stadium, ferry terminal and downtown.
However, WSDOT will go ahead Monday with a 16-day full closure of Highway 3 in Gorst, Kitsap County, to build a new salmon culvert.
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