Snohomish County commuters: Get ready for more I-5 construction

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, January 7, 2026

EVERETT — Construction work to repair an aging Seattle bridge will again force the closure of multiple lanes along I-5 throughout most of 2026, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The massive construction project known as Revive I-5 will make repairs to the Ship Canal Bridge passing over Lake Union. In 2025, the work forced closures of multiple lanes — and at times, all northbound lanes — during a summertime period lasting nearly two months. While construction was underway, southbound travel times from Everett to Seattle on weekday mornings reached as high as 90 to 100 minutes on some days, higher than times in 2024 that hovered at about 60 minutes.

This year, closures or lane reductions along the stretch of I-5 will be in effect through nearly the entire year. Snohomish County residents commuting to the Seattle area will likely see traffic impacts. Local officials have previously recommended considering other ways of commuting to ease congestion, including carpooling, adjusting their schedules or taking public transit.

The latest closure could begin as early as Friday, although the work is weather dependent. If there is too much rain on the forecast, WSDOT could delay the closure until the following weekend, wrote Tom Pearce, a department spokesperson.

The work will require a weekend-long closure of northbound I-5 in a large portion of Seattle — between I-90 near the International District and NE 45th Street in the University District – as crews set up a work zone. After that, northbound I-5 across the Ship Canal Bridge will have two lanes closed for months until June 5, when WSDOT will close northbound I-5 for a weekend to remove the work zone.

While the FIFA World Cup is in town — between June 8 and July 10 — construction will halt. It will resume on July 10 with another weekend-long full closure of northbound I-5 in Seattle. Beginning June 13, two lanes will be closed across the Ship Canal Bridge through the end of 2026, according to WSDOT.

During the closures, I-5 express lanes will operate in the northbound direction 24 hours a day.

The Ship Canal Bridge, built in the 1960s, hasn’t had a major preservation effort in more than 40 years. It needs significant repairs to prevent unplanned closures and address maintenance issues, according to WSDOT. About 240,000 vehicles pass over the bridge daily.

Construction will continue into 2027, when WSDOT expects additional closures and lane reductions will be needed to finish the repair work. When planning the repair project, the department considered limiting the closures to nights and weekends, but it would have extended the timeline of repairs significantly — Pearce previously estimated it would have taken at least 10 years to complete without the daytime reductions and closures.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.