Company tracks travel times on detour routes after Skagit River Bridge collapse

KIRKLAND, Wash. — INRIX, a leading provider of traffic information and driver services, is tracking drive times on alternate routes after the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed Thursday, May 23.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, the only delay was on either side of the I-5 bridge at Highway 20 and Highway 538 (College Way), the exits to the primary morning detour routes.  A typical pre-Memorial Day Friday trip on I-5 takes about two minutes. Mid-morning, that trip took about 10 minutes.

All other detour routes have fairly typical traffic volumes and traffic speeds. This is not unusual for the Friday morning before the Memorial Day holiday. INRIX expects significant changes to traffic this afternoon after 1 p.m.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is recommending the following detours:

• Southbound I-5 to westbound Highway 20 to southbound Best Road to eastbound Fir Island road to Southbound I-5. INRIX drive time is 31 minutes which is typical for a 16 mile drive for this time of day. The only congestion is the left turn to Best Road.
• Northbound I-5 to westbound Fir Island Road to northbound Best Road to Eastbound Highway 20 to northbound I-5. INRIX drive time is 28 minutes which is slightly longer than a typical Friday morning.

Other routes include:

• Southbound I-5 to George Hopper Road to eastbound Highway 20 to S. Burlington Road to westbound College Way is experiencing no major congestion. At 10 a.m. this morning, the INRIX drive time was six minutes which is typical.
• The backup is stretching to E. Blackburn St. and taking 10 minutes to get from E. Blackburn St. to College Way. Typical drive time is about two minutes.
• Drivers who want to avoid I-5 entirely can take State Route 9 between Sedro-Woolley and the SR 538/SR 9 intersection. Both state routes take drivers to and from I-5. This morning, drive times are fairly typical. INRIX drive times are nine minutes.

Additional information:

• SR 536 (Memorial Highway) between Highway 20 and I-5 is flowing well with travel speeds of 35 miles per hour showing no difference between today and a typical day.
• Eastbound Highway 20 between SR 536 and I-5 is a little slower than usual.

INRIX will continue to track travel times throughout the day. Drivers can track travel times with the mobile INRIX traffic app which can be found at www.inrixtraffic.com.

KIRO