Even with some work still to do, the state Department of Transportation’s I-5 construction project in Everett is paying big dividends in reduced congestion and added safety.
Some of the improvements in rush-hour traffic flow have been eye-popping. Morning backups on southbound I-5 between Marine View Drive and 41st Street have all but vanished with the addition of an HOV lane and a general-purpose lane. The elimination of a bottleneck where westbound traffic from U.S. 2 merges onto southbound I-5 has also virtually eliminated what had been a chronic morning crawl across the U.S. 2 trestle, as well as westbound backups on Highway 204 and 20th Street SE from Lake Stevens.
The afternoon commute has improved, too, with a typical drive north from 128th Street to Marine View Drive shrinking from 18 to 10 minutes, according to DOT data. With no congestion at all, that 8-mile stretch takes 8 minutes.
The addition of a new merging lane on northbound I-5 from 41st to U.S. 2 has eased afternoon backups on 41st and made that merge safer. As drivers become more accustomed to having more time to change lanes, flow should improve even more.
This project is proving the value of giving drivers more time to merge onto or off of a main corridor, a strategy that will be employed in coming years on Highway 9 between Clearview and Marysville. There, money from the Legislature’s 9.5-cent gas tax hike of 2005 (affirmed by voters the following year) will be used to add longer right- and left-hand turn lanes to major intersections, which should have a positive effect on congestion. Some are now suggesting that the county consider similar options for gridlocked corridors like 164th Street, an idea whose merit is clearer now than ever.
The $263 million I-5 project, funded by money from two separate gas-tax hikes, has been a model of efficiency. The DOT folded a $42.8 million project to replace the 41st Street interchange into it, bringing that long-sought improvement to completion sooner. The overall project will be finished four years ahead of its original schedule, thanks to the work of leaders like Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson and Senate Transportation Committee Chair Mary Margaret Haugen (D-Camano Island), who worked to get it done before the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. An innovative design-build strategy approved by the DOT and executed by its contractor, Atkinson-CH2M Hill, shaved more months off the project timeline.
The congestion relief already realized not only eases commuter nerves, it saves fuel and improves air quality. It also puts everyone’s time, including that of businesses moving freight through the region, to more productive use.
Lessons learned from this well-conceived and well-managed project should be applied to future ones.
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