Drivers headed to Bellingham and all points north this weekend should plan to add extra time to their trips or do their driving at night or in the early morning.
State construction crews plan to close one lane in each direction of I-5 between exits 252 and 255 in Bellingham, leaving just one lane in each direction open to traffic. The closures, which will stretch for three miles in both directions, will last from 10 p.m. today until 6 a.m. Monday.
“If people drive during off-peak hours, before 8 a.m. and after 7 p.m., they’ll do much better,” state Department of Transportation spokesman Dave Chesson said.
About 80,000 vehicles daily travel through the construction area, he said. As the weather improves and becomes more summerlike, drivers tend to travel more, especially to British Columbia and throughout northwestern Washington. That’s also when road crews can complete much of their work.
The work is part of a $4.5 million project to replace broken concrete panels, pave onramps and offramps and smooth transitions across bridges.
Once crews pour concrete, it needs to dry for 10 to 15 hours, Chesson said.
“We can’t do that during the week,” he said. “It’s something they really needed an extended period of time to get all that work in.”
This will be the third weekend-long lane closure for the project and is likely to be the last, Chesson said. Crews were allotted four weekends, but they won’t need the last weekend.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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