MARYSVILLE – The bridge demolition at the 116th Street overpass at Interstate 5 is half done.
The other half will be demolished starting Friday, April 15, closing the southbound lanes of I-5. Motorists will have to use the offramps and onramps there during the overnight closure.
To add to the traveling adventure, expansion joint replacement work on northbound I-5 bridges will start up again after a two-week break.
Significant backups are expected.
“Even if thirty percent of drivers find other ways to get through Everett and Marysville during the weekend work, the backups will be similar to a weekday commute,” WSDOT traffic engineer Mike Swires said. “Surface streets in Everett and Marysville will also see increased congestion.”
The slower speeds and narrow lane widths will likely cause delays during the weekday and weekend commutes.
This week crews working for the state Department of Transportation will restripe northbound I-5 to three narrow lanes and then shift them to one side of the Steamboat Slough and Ebey Slough bridges. The speed limit will be reduced to 45 miles per hour while the narrower lanes are in place.
Actual bridge work is set from 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 15, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 18:
Northbound drivers will have two narrow lanes through the two-mile stretch between the Steamboat Slough and Ebey Slough bridges Saturday, April 16, and Sunday, April 17. Only one lane will be open overnight Friday, April 15, and again on Sunday night, April 17.
As for the 116th bridge demolition, on Friday and Saturday nights, April 15-16, demolition will start around midnight. To prepare for that, one lane of I-5 southbound will close at 7 p.m. and two more at 10:30. All lanes will close by 11:30. Traffic will be diverted to the offramps and onramps, forcing the 116th bridge to close to traffic. Bridge demolition of the west side will start at midnight. Two lanes will reopen at 7, and all southbound lanes open by 9 a.m.
The following night’s schedule is the same except two lanes will reopen at 8, and all lanes reopen by 10 a.m.
The Tulalip Tribes’ contractor, Granite Construction, will be doing the work. Signs, barricades and flaggers will direct traffic. A free shuttle will help pedestrians cross the new 116th bridge during the closures, a tribal news release says.
