The mess on southbound I-5 near Lynnwood just got messier.
To keep oversized trucks from barreling into a new bridge and the construction crew working on it, a warning system was switched on Friday.
Lasers and flashing signs will be used to warn taller trucks of a lower-than-usual overpass just north of I-5’s intersection with 164th Street SW.
The first warning tells truckers with trailers that are 14-feet, 6-inches or taller to exit at 128th Street SW. A mile up the road, a second warning directs them to pull over to the side of the road and wait for a state trooper.
The final warning, 4,000 feet from the overpass, warns the trucker to pull aside one last time.
If the truck doesn’t pull over a series of bells and lights at the construction site gives those working on the bridge about 60 seconds to scramble to safety.
"We have the technology, so we thought this would be a prime place to test this," said Brian Dobbins, assistant project engineer for the state Department of Transportation.
He said this is the first time a laser warning system is being used temporarily while a bridge is built.
"Our bottom line is safety," Dobbins said.
The signs and new rules — regular truckers are required to drive in the far right lane in the construction zone — come on a section of I-5 where drivers already have to cope with a list of obstacles.
A massive concrete barrier sits smack in the center of the freeway, a temporary structure to support the new bridge.
Orange cones surrounding that concrete barrier are continually thrashed by drivers making sudden and unsafe lane changes.
Lanes narrow at the construction site, shrinking the amount of driving space and forcing drivers to make quick shifts to the right, and then back to the left when they leave the construction zone.
Construction signs seem to be everywhere, often appearing to make drivers unsure about what to do.
The new warning system will cause too-tall trucks to trigger lasers at each of the three locations. Signs will flash for a few seconds, and, at the second and third signs, a loud bell will go off.
Dobbins said about 30 trucks go by each day that are tall enough to trigger the signs, which should cause them to take a detour.
Before lasers were used, the state relied on signs to warn drivers of tall trucks to leave the highway.
The restrictions will be in place until June, when protective scaffolding can be removed, and the bridge will have 16-feet, 6-inches of clearance, easily enough space for all oversized trucks, Dobbins said.
Although all but oversized trucks will clear the bridge now under construction, all tractor-trailer trucks now are required to drive in the right lane, State Patrol Trooper Lance Ramsay said.
Warnings explaining the change were left in known gathering locations for truckers in this area, but apparently not everyone received them.
Signs requiring trucks to stay in the right lane were put in place Wednesday, but only a few truckers observed the new rule Friday. Ramsay said up to a dozen troopers will work the site until truckers realize they need to keep to the right.
The number of tickets given out were unavailable but troopers appeared to be stopping about five trucks at a time Friday.
"Trucks need to stay in the right lane," Ramsay said, adding that tickets are $101. "We’re going to put all of the resources we have in this area to make sure it’s safe for work."
The state will not allow work on the Sound Transit bridge to start until all truckers stick to the right and follow the warning signs, Dobbins said.
The bridge is one of two direct-access ramps Sound Transit is building in the Lynnwood area. Both will speed commuting times by allowing buses and carpool traffic to exit from the carpool lanes directly into the Ash Way and Lynnwood park-and-ride lots.
The bridge at the Lynnwood Park-And-Ride is tall enough that it doesn’t need taller trucks to take a detour.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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