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Drivers should plan ahead for weekend 520 Bridge, NB I-5 lane closures

SEATTLE — Drivers will run into some road and lane closures around Seattle this weekend.

The 520 bridge is closed between Interstate 405 and Montlake Boulevard until 9 a.m. Sunday morning and two of four lanes will be closed on a section of northbound Interstate 5.

"I've just seen a lot of angry people and just a lot of lanes closed," Jonathan Gerson said. "Seems like everywhere there's construction today."

Gerson got caught in gridlock on I-5.

"It's just a mess," he said.

The 520 bridge closure is allowing crews to shift lanes on the East Side to create a work zone beside the westbound lanes.

Closer to Seattle, they're pouring concrete for the new West Connection Bridge.

Saturday and Sunday two of four northbound lanes of I-5 are also closed between Olive Way and the north end of the Ship Canal Bridge, which could lead to delays for Seahawks fans leaving the game.

Crews are replacing joints in the road and repairing parts of the bridge.

To help with the expected back-ups on I-5, WSDOT also plans to keep the express lanes running northbound all weekend.

KIRO 7 went inside the WSDOT's Traffic Management Center in Shoreline.

Spokesperson Bart Treece said they're asking drivers to carpool and use transit and other routes, like I-90.

He said they tried to double up on work to avoid multiple weekend closures.

"There's just so much work to do and there's not a lot of weekends to do the work," he said.

WSDOT also has incident response teams, which consist of specialized trucks driven by workers that can move stranded vehicles and help direct traffic if required. Treece said they are also driving the affected routes to keep an eye out for any back-ups.

While the closures are a pain for detoured drivers, some are also trying to look on the bright side.

"It's going to be great once 520's done," Lori Wilwerding said. "So I think, they should try to get as much done as they can."

Links:

520 bridge info: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/WeekendClosures.htm

I-5 info: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I5/SeattleBridgeRepair/2013_detour.htm