Seattle’s I-5 Ship Canal Bridge Repairs: What Commuters Need To Know

Commuting on I-5 is never a breeze, but it's going to get more difficult over the next two years, unfortunately.  

According to axios.com,
‘Seattleites should get used to northbound Interstate 5 being down to two lanes this year — and brace for similar pain next year heading southbound.
Two years of near-constant I-5 lane closures began this month through Seattle, squeezing traffic while crews repair the Ship Canal Bridge, which carries about 240,000 cars daily.’ 

How long will this take?

The work started this week and it's going to run at least until June 5th. The two left lanes of I-5 from about State Route 520 up to NE 45th street are going to be Closed which will drop it down to two lanes. Then there will be a brief pause this summer when the FIFA World Cup championship games come to town, and then it kicks back in again, reducing traffic back down to two lanes from mid-July through to the end of the year. 

Then next year they do it all over again, except in the opposite direction. There will be a little bit of relief during this traffic jam because the Washington State Department of Transportation has decided to leave the northbound express lanes open 24 hours a day. The downside, of course, is if you're southbound, you don't get access to those lanes. 

All this is being done so that work crews can refurbish the Ship Canal bridge, which hasn't had any kind of maintenance done for almost 40 years. That bridge is busy. It carries over 240,000 cars a day over the Lake Washington Ship Canal. 

Dealing with the traffic is not going to be fun, and it's not going to be easy, but this work has to be done. So, if you can find an alternate route or possibly carpool to help with congestion. Do it.