Late-night and early morning drivers trying to use Highway 104 this month are in for delays and detours.
Work on Sound Transit’s light rail Lynnwood extension is set to close some ramps that connect I-5 and the highway, also called Ballinger Way. The northbound I-5 ramps to the highway and the ramps from the highway to northbound I-5 are scheduled for closure.
Contractor crews will do early work for a temporary signal at Highway 104 and future guideway columns from exit 177 to Mountlake Terrace, Sound Transit said in a news release. This project stretch includes concrete forms, drilling, earthwork, electrical work, moving equipment, striping, and trucking and related activities.
The serpentine road is a busy one and averaged as many as 48,000 vehicles a day in 2018, according to Washington State Department of Transportation data. It goes through Woodway, Mountlake Terrace, Lake Forest Park, Shoreline and Kenmore, and connects to the Washington State Ferry system in Edmonds.
The southbound I-5 ramp to Highway 104 was the busiest of the off- and on-ramps, with 15,000 vehicles daily.
Light rail work increasingly is becoming visible as we draw closer to the target completion date in 2024. The extension between Northgate and the Lynnwood Transit Center is projected to carry up to 55,000 riders a day a couple of years after opening. Of course, those figures were estimated before the world was hit with the new coronavirus, which has coincided with a significant decline in public transit ridership, despite mounting evidence that it isn’t a major spreader of COVID-19.
The work needs the weather to be just right, which appears to be in the forecast with clear, sunny days ahead.
Closures are scheduled from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., Monday through Friday, starting today until Aug. 21, with work between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., which could ensnare some morning commuters.
The detour takes drivers east to 56th Avenue West, then north to 220th Street Southwest, where they can access I-5.
Starting next week, 52nd Avenue West is marked to close between 208th Street Southwest and 212th Street Southwest for four months for more light rail work.
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