ARLINGTON — Drivers on I-5 through Arlington can expect slowdowns and backups this summer during work on the bridge over the Stillaguamish River.
Contractor crews are to remove old paint, clean exposed metal and repaint the southbound bridge, which will be closed for five months starting Monday, June 14. Northbound and southbound traffic on I-5 will be reduced to two lanes in each direction.
Both directions of traffic will be routed across the northbound bridge.
Speed limits are down to 55 mph through the work area. The lanes will be reduced to 11 feet wide to prepare for the full crossover of southbound traffic into the existing median bypass.
An average of 91,000 vehicles per day used the bridge in 2019, according to Washington State Department of Transportation data.
The Stillaguamish River Bridge was first built in 1933 with two lanes in each direction of Highway 99. It became part of I-5 in the 1960s. A second three-lane bridge was built just east of the original for northbound I-5 traffic in 1971.
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