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Lynnwood approves construction contract for Poplar Way Bridge

Published 2:04 pm Tuesday, January 27, 2026

By Will Geschke

A car idles at a stop light at the intersection of 196th Street and Poplar Way where the City of Lynnwood will be building a bridge over I-5 to connect Poplar Way to Alderwood Mall Boulevard on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
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A car idles at a stop light at the intersection of 196th Street and Poplar Way where the City of Lynnwood will be building a bridge over I-5 to connect Poplar Way to Alderwood Mall Boulevard on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
A car idles at a stoplight at the intersection of 196th Street and Poplar Way where the City of Lynnwood will build a bridge over I-5 to connect Poplar Way to Alderwood Mall Boulevard on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

EVERETT — The Lynnwood City Council voted to approve a $49.5 million construction contract on Monday to build a long-awaited six-lane bridge crossing I-5.

The new bridge would be built from the intersection of 196th Street SW and Poplar Way to the intersection of Alderwood Mall Boulevard and 33rd Avenue West. It will connect areas south of I-5 in both Snohomish County and Lynnwood to northern areas like the Alderwood Mall and the Interurban Trail. The new bridge will also include infrastructure for pedestrians, including a sidewalk on the west side of the bridge and a mixed-use path for cyclists and pedestrians on the east side.

The construction contract, awarded to a Spokane-based company, totaled $45 million, with $4.5 million set aside as contingency. The total cost of the construction phase of the project is expected to amount to $58 million, Lynnwood City Engineer David Mach said at Monday’s council meeting. Most of the funding came from state and federal grants. The city put about $12.7 million toward the project, none of which came from the general fund.

The bridge project has been in the works for years. City Engineering Manager Nick Barnett said at Monday’s meeting. The idea for the Poplar Way bridge was first studied back in 2004, he said, as a way to connect residents to a number of destinations separated from each other by I-5.

“Interstates tend to almost function as massive rivers, with no way to get across them,” Barnett said.

The bridge, the sixth crossing over I-5 in the city, would create a new route for traffic to reach the Alderwood Mall, and its pedestrian and cycling infrastructure could prove important as Sound Transit prepares to open a new Link light rail station at the mall as part of its Everett Link extension.

Mach said that the city is working with Sound Transit as the agency will look to make modifications to an interchange when its new Stride bus rapid transit service connecting Lynnwood to Bellevue begins operating, likely in 2028.

Construction is set to begin in March. The city expects to open the road in April 2028.

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

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