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Get ready for 4 weeks of work on I-5’s Ship Canal Bridge

The Ship Canal Bridge (@SounderBruce via Flickr Creative Commons)
(@SounderBruce via Flickr Creative Commons)

SEATTLE — This weekend kicks off four weeks of major work on the northbound lanes of the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) says the closure will begin Friday night, July 18, and last through early Monday, July 21.

Following the closure, WSDOT crews will reduce the freeway to two northbound lanes across the bridge for four weeks.

Crews will use the four-week work window to repair and repave portions of the bridge’s two left lanes and replace additional stormwater drains.

“We’ve been planning and preparing for this work for over a year,” said Brian Nielsen, WSDOT’s region administrator with oversight for King County. “This is one of the most important and challenging preservation projects in the state. We know it will disrupt travel, but the repairs are essential to extend the life of one of the region’s busiest and most vital transportation links. Our team has worked closely with city, regional and transit partners to keep people moving and reduce the effects as much as possible.”

 Later this year, WSDOT will begin lane reductions on southbound I-5 to prepare for future phases of the project.

What drivers can expect

•11:59 p.m. Friday, July 18, to early Monday, July 21: northbound I-5 closed from near the I-90 interchange to Northeast 45th Street.

•Monday, July 21, to Friday night, Aug. 15: northbound I-5 reduced to two lanes across the Ship Canal Bridge.

•Friday night, Aug. 15, to early Monday, Aug. 18: northbound I-5 closed from near the I-90 interchange to Northeast 45th Street.

•Early Monday, Aug. 18: all lanes of northbound I-5 reopen.

The express lanes will only operate northbound during this work.

WSDOT says drivers headed northbound on I-5 going to downtown Seattle should use the exits to Edgar Martinez Drive or to Dearborn, James, or Madison streets. People can also use eastbound I-90 to Rainier Avenue.

The express lanes will have no northbound exits to downtown Seattle; the first exit is at Northeast 42nd Street in the University District. Express lane on-ramps at Columbia/Cherry and Pine streets will be open to all vehicles throughout the weekend. Those ramps are usually reserved for high-occupancy vehicles.

When the northbound I-5 mainline reopens by 5 a.m. Monday, July 21, the freeway will be reduced to two lanes near the Ship Canal Bridge until the evening of Friday, August 15. That’s when WSDOT says the second weekend-long closure will happen.

A preview of things to come?

WSDOT says this construction is a preview of things to come for the next two years. One direction of the bridge each year will be reduced to two lanes for up to nine months.

WSDOT says work will pause during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and all lanes of the bridge will be open in both directions.

In winter 2026, more work will reduce the northbound Ship Canal Bridge to two lanes until early June, just prior to World Cup matches in Seattle and Vancouver. Contractor crews will remove the work zone and reopen all lanes throughout the tournament.

After the tournament concludes in mid-July, crews will close two right lanes northbound until fall while they repair and repave them.

The work then shifts to southbound I-5 in 2027, with crews working on the two left lanes from winter into summer followed by the right lanes through the fall.

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