Soggy forecast again postpones I-5 weekend bridge work
Published 4:36 pm Thursday, March 3, 2016
MARYSVILLE — The dreaded weekend traffic squeeze on I-5 between Everett and Marysville has been sidelined again.
The state Department of Transportation had planned to start a series of eight weekend-long lane closures in late February to replace aging expansion joints.
The first go-round got pushed back by a rain forecast a week ago. On Thursday, the agency again declared the weekend weather outlook too soppy to get down to business.
The National Weather Service predicts a 90 percent chance of rain for the Marysville area on Friday and Saturday nights, with a 60 percent chance during the day on Sunday.
Now, crews hope to start up during the weekend spanning March 11 to March 14.
If all goes as planned, a typical closure would begin with lanes shutting down at 9:30 p.m. on a Friday, leaving two narrow lanes through the construction zone during the daytime.
Speed limits would drop to 40 mph. All lanes would reopen by 4 a.m. the following Monday.
Transportation officials have warned drivers to expect weekend travel times that resemble typical weekday commutes. They’re asking people to find alternate routes during construction.
The work will replace expansion joints that are up to 30 years old on the freeway bridges over Steamboat and Ebey sloughs. More than 130,000 vehicles travel that stretch of I-5 each day.
Dry conditions are needed Friday night for crews to paint temporary lane striping and again Sunday night to restripe the highway to its original configuration. The actual work of swapping out old, corroded joints can be done in the rain. When replaced, new joints help the bridge expand and contract with changing weather.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
More lane-closure info
For information on the project and related closures can be found on the department’s What’s Happening Now Web page at www.wsdot.wa.gov/construction/pugetsound/today.htm.
