EVERETT — A new carpool lane opened Aug. 14 on northbound I-5 from milepost 195 at Marine View Drive to the Highway 529 bridge. Some motorists frustrated by the revisions between Everett and Marysville have taken to social media to voice their concerns.
The object of their frustration: a component of a $123 million Washington State Department of Transportation project to address increased congestion in the 4-mile stretch of I-5, plagued by heavy commuter traffic.
Department of Transportation spokesperson Tom Pearce said extending the HOV lane is intended to smooth traffic from cars merging onto the freeway at the milepost 194 on-ramp from U.S. 2 and Everett Avenue. Previously, those entering the freeway to go north on I-5 had just a quarter mile to merge before the exit-only right lane ended.
After months of intermittent lane and exit closures, the formerly exit-only lane to Marine View Drive is now a through lane, and the new carpool lane is designed to create more room to merge and increase the flow of traffic.
Not everybody is happy with the changes.
“Until the extra lane goes beyond Smokey Point, the bottleneck has just moved to Marysville and will still cause traffic to backup,” one Facebook user said. “Appreciate the effort but it’s a bit short on the success side of the situation.”
Others say the far-right lane ends abruptly and lacks signage.
“There is 1 arrow on the road AT THE END OF THE LANE,” another user wrote. “If the semi beside me hadn’t seen what was happening and slowed down, I would have been crushed.”
Other complaints include the freeway’s paving, large bumps in the road and loose gravel that could damage windshields.
An estimated 65,000 vehicles travel the stretch daily. For commuters, it’s common to inch along the 60 mph stretch in a bumper-to-bumper traffic nightmare — especially between the hours of 3-6 p.m.
The project will also address the I-5 and Highway 529 interchange. It includes on- and off-ramps connecting I-5 with Highway 529, and a roundabout giving motorists access to both directions of Highway 529 and southbound I-5. This will create another option for those entering or leaving south Marysville and avoids crossing train tracks on Fourth Street.
In 2019, the Department of Transportation announced the project would be completed in 2022. Delays pushed construction back to spring 2023. WSDOT estimates the new freeway ramps will be completed in spring 2025.
While the HOV lane is open, state officials said the project is not complete.
“Our crew was out last night. They did some of the paving,” Pearce said Tuesday morning. “The transition ramps were in place, but it still had a bit of a bump to it. A lot of people experienced that.”
Paving will likely be done early next week, he said. Permanent lane markings and more secure concrete dividers will be completed in the coming months.
In the meantime, Pearce said drivers should slow down and merge sooner.
“Anytime people are in a construction zone, they do need to be paying attention,” he said. “They need to slow down. They need to plan ahead. If they don’t wait until the last seconds to merge, that’s going to help smooth traffic.”
Connor Zamora: 425-339-3037; connor.zamora@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @cgzamora02.
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