Issaquah, Lynnwood bridge-deck repairs will clog freeways this spring

The Washington State Department of Transportation is kicking off 17 bridge deck-repair projects this spring that will temporarily clog traffic, starting with Easter weekend repaves along northbound Interstate 5 in Lynnwood.

Then on Monday, traffic will squeeze into a single lane of westbound Interstate 90 approaching Issaquah, the first of several construction days.

Freeway surfaces are getting more attention as WSDOT spends money from higher taxes the Legislature passed in 2015 and 2022 to remedy the wear and tear on bridges built a half-century ago.

Drivers can expect less road space than in the past, because transportation officials are fed up with crashes into workers and equipment. In a blog post last October, the agency announced tactics that include more jobs during daylight hours, and “closing more lanes or creating a longer work zone area to create a larger buffer for crews.”

The Lynnwood job runs from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. Two northbound lanes will close over 44th Avenue West. In a separate job nearby, Alderwood Mall Boulevard will be blocked while crews resurface its overpass above Highway 524. The nearby northbound ramp from 220th Street Southwest onto I-5 in Mountlake Terrace will also close.

The Issaquah repairs will reduce westbound I-90 to just one lane, from 10 a.m. Monday until 6 p.m. Wednesday. The short bridge crosses East Fork Issaquah Creek, about one mile west of the Exit 22 (Preston/Fall City) interchange. Those will be followed by a similar 2½-day job April 17-19.

During repaves in the area last year, travelers were typically delayed 15 to 20 minutes at busy times, and longer the first day, said Tom Pearce, spokesperson for WSDOT.

He suggested that people whose trips end south of Renton should consider departing I-90 earlier at Milepost 25, and take westbound Highway 18 toward the Green River Valley, Highway 169 and Highway 167.

Longer closures are planned for next month, when westbound lanes just before Exit 18, at East Sunset Way/Highlands Drive, will close May 14-18 and May 21-25. Additional lane repairs are expected during June between Issaquah and Preston in both directions.

In other roadwork:

• This week WSDOT reopened Eastgate Way Southeast near Bellevue College, and the 142nd Place Southeast overpass, following weeks of closures to repair damage from an overheight truck load.
• In north Snohomish County, the I-5 rest areas at Smokey Point in both directions, milepost 207, remain closed for maintenance until April 13. Crews are doing a septic tank replacement, which required a water shut-off, said spokesperson Sean Quinn.
• As many as three lanes of northbound I-5 will close Monday through Thursday, from 7 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. at South 221st Street approaching SeaTac, for construction of a future Highway 509 interchange. The HOV lane and one left general purpose lane will remain open to all vehicles for travel.
• In downtown Seattle, the exit lanes right of the northbound I-5 mainline will close overnight from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday. This work is part of WSDOT’s project to add a mainline lane from the Seneca Street exit to the Olive Way exit.
• Highway 9 in Snohomish will be reduced to one lane of alternating traffic overnights Monday through Thursday nights from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

WSDOT provides dates for its highway repairs at its Puget Sound Travel Planner online. Motorists are also encouraged to check the @wsdot_traffic Twitter feed or the state traffic flow maps online, and plan for additional travel time.