U.S. 2 trestle to be closed Friday night

EVERETT — Make sure you have an alternate way out of Everett on Friday night.

State transportation crews plan to completely close the eastbound U.S. 2 trestle between I-5 and Highway 204 from Friday night into Saturday morning. They plan to paint new lanes.

Crews will start closing the onramps from both directions of I-5 to eastbound U.S. 2 at 9:30 p.m. Friday and will fully close the eastbound trestle at midnight. They will reopen one lane and the on-ramp from northbound I-5 at 7 a.m. Saturday. At noon on Saturday, crews plan to reopen all lanes, including the ramp leading to southbound I-5 and the ramp from Hewitt Avenue to eastbound U.S. 2.

During the closure, crews plan to remove more than two miles of striping and restripe the trestle to create two lanes of traffic and a wider, 14-foot right shoulder. Drivers should prepare for a long detour and add extra time for their trips.

To avoid a nearly 20-mile detour during the closure, northbound I-5 drivers headed to the east end of the trestle should take 128th Street SE in Mill Creek and southbound I-5 drivers headed to the east end of the trestle should take Fourth Street in Marysville east to Highway 9, the state transportation department advises.

When the work is done and signs are in place, as early as January 2009, drivers should be able to use the shoulder during the afternoon commute.

“Restriping the trestle is the first step in relieving congestion on the trestle,” said Mark Leth, a traffic engineer for the state Department of Transportation. “Allowing drivers to use the right shoulder during the afternoon rush hour will help ease the pressure on I-5 and Hewitt Avenue as traffic merges onto eastbound .”