Mercer Street on-ramp to northbound Interstate 5 closing Friday to Monday

The Washington State Department of Transportation is closing the Mercer Street on-ramp to northbound Interstate 5 from Friday, Feb. 3 at 9 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 6 at 4 a.m. for construction.

This includes the express lanes entrance. There will be detours in place, WSDOT said.

The westbound State Route 520 off-ramp to southbound I-5 is reduced to one lane through at least Feb. 2023.

The closure is part of the SR 520 and I-5 Express Lanes Connection Project, which will create a dedicated reversible transit and carpool connection between SR 520 and the I-5 express lanes, along with a reversible transit and carpool ramp at the I-5 and Mercer Street interchange. The entire project is set to finish in 2024, according to WSDOT.

The project was started to create:

• Safer and more reliable bus and carpool travel between the Eastside, South Lake Union area, and downtown Seattle.
• Earlier than planned Eastside and South Lake Union transit service via the reversible I-5 express lanes connection.
• A more efficient phasing of SR 520 construction that minimizes contractor overlap in the Montlake area and keeps traffic moving during construction.

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