SEATTLE — Big news for drivers this Halloween weekend!
Starting Friday night at 11:59 p.m., all lanes of northbound I-5 from I-90 to the U-District exits are shutting down. They will stay that way through Monday morning as crews remove the construction zone.
RB McKeon with WSDOT said this is a long time coming.
“We are looking forward to closing northbound I-5 and reopening all lanes across the Ship Canal Bridge on Monday morning,” McKeon said.
The project started back in January with the left two lanes shutting down over the Ship Canal Bridge.
In June and July, drivers saw a little bit of relief when the lanes reopened during the World Cup matches, but the lanes closed again shortly after.
Fast forward to this weekend, there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
“Just looking for efficiencies where we can get them and then, like I said, the weather is held out, and it’s been great for construction this season,” McKeon said.
McKeon said this weekend’s closure will tie up loose ends.
“Making sure that everything is back in its normal configuration so people know what lane they’re driving in once all lanes are reopened. So a bit of just clean-up work, housekeeping, if you will. Finish up and then be off the bridge,” McKeon said.
But the relief is temporary: in February, the southbound Revive I-5 work begins.
“Typical lane reductions like we had this year over on the southbound side. The other thing I want to say is the express lanes will be back to running 24-7 in the direction of the closure, so that means that next year the express lane will run southbound only,” McKeon said.
By this time next year, WSDOT says they are hoping the project is nearly over and traffic can return to normal.