Rough patch on I-5 waiting on weather

LYNNWOOD — It likely will be another couple of months before the rough pavement on southbound I-5 through Lynnwood becomes smooth.

A one-mile stretch of freeway from I-405 to 196th Street SW was ground down about a year and a half ago in preparation for the $32.5 million ramp reconfiguration project completed last October.

It was scheduled to be repaved as soon as the project was done, but the weather turned cold and wet and the work was put on hold for the winter.

Crews will need several consecutive nights of warm, dry weather to do the job, said Meghan Pembroke, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation. Low temperatures need to be in the 50s for five or six nights close together, she said.

The work could be done any time between now and July but the most likely time is June, Pembroke said.

Conditions have to be both warm and dry for fresh asphalt to settle and harden properly, according to Cathy Arnold, a project engineer for the transportation department.

Crews and equipment have to be lined up well in advance, so even if the weather turns dry in the next couple of weeks, they can’t just run out and get it done, Pembroke said.

“I doubt they would be able to mobilize that quickly,” she said.

So far, state officials have received no complaints about the pavement but have been asked about when it will be finished, Pembroke said. So far the skinned-off roadway has remained in good condition, she said.

Once the freeway is repaved it will be painted with new stripes about two to three weeks later.

The ramps were rebuilt to reduce weaving for drivers entering southbound I-5 from I-405 and Highway 525, and others exiting I-5 onto 196th Street SW.

Now, southbound I-5 drivers exiting at 196th enter the offramp at the I-405 underpass, so they miss the coarse stretch of pavement altogether.

Part of the section shaved off was a stretch of experimental quiet asphalt laid down in 2006 that was beginning to crumble, officials said.