New I-5 onramp at 41st Street opens

Published 9:58 pm Tuesday, June 3, 2008

EVERETT — Drivers heading east on 41st Street now can take a new ramp to get onto southbound I-5.

The state opened the new onramp at the 41st Street interchange on Saturday. That means drivers are no longer able to get onto southbound I-5 via eastbound 41st Street and the Broadway Avenue onramp.

The new ramp should improve traffic flow along the freeway, said Patty Michaud, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

“It’s really a more efficient way,” Michaud said, adding that the new ramp doesn’t seem to have confused drivers.

Some drivers eastbound on 41st Street may stick to their old route and try to access southbound I-5 via the Broadway Avenue onramp. If they do so, they need to keep going until Highway 526 to be able to merge onto the freeway, Michaud said.

The new ramp is a part of the Everett I-5 widening project. The $263 million project considered the third most expensive highway project in the state’s history.

Crews are on the homestretch to finish the project this summer. The freeway already has been expanded with new carpool lanes to reduce congestion at chokepoints along I-5 between Highway 526 and Marine View Drive.

On Thursday, officials are set to open two more ramps: the offramp from the new northbound carpool lane to Broadway and the onramp from Broadway to the southbound I-5 carpool lane.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.