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Northbound I-5 lanes reopen after 10 months of construction
After 10 months of Revive I-5 construction, things got easier Sunday night for those traveling in the area of the Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle.
SEATTLE - After 10 months of Revive I-5 construction, things got easier Sunday night for those traveling in the area of the Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle.
The Ship Canal Bridge Preservation project opened lanes ahead of schedule Sunday night.
Local perspective:
For those who live and work in that part of Seattle, commuting and running errands have been a challenge. Now that it's reopened again, it's a relief for those who'd been taking detours.
Residents React to Reopening
What they're saying:
"We were coming back on the freeway and all of a sudden, it said detour," said Wing Lam, who lives near Ship Canal Bridge.
Wing Lam and RJ Atwal say they were caught off guard by closures on I-5 this past weekend.
"This weekend we ran into a Home Depot emergency," said Wing.
After hitting other detours on their shopping run to Home Depot, they realized they had one more hurdle as they approached the Ship Canal Bridge.
"A little bit of frustration, but it's fine, but then we come back here, last mile, oh, we are almost home, we had food in the back, and we are like this ramp is closed as well," said RJ Atwal.
WSDOT says during this latest phase of Revive I-5, it scheduled all northbound lanes between I-90 and Northeast 45th Street to close through the weekend, though crews successfully wrapped up early. (Meanwhile, Monday morning commuters saw a brief hiccup when a signal issue temporarily delayed the I-5 express lanes reversal before WSDOT fully resolved the issue and reopened them southbound shortly after 6 a.m.)
"From the walking perspective, it’s actually entertaining seeing the construction, how the area is changing, the new pedestrian sidewalks they add. But I imagine it’s frustrating to deal with it behind the wheel," said Denys Antipenko.
Crews restore the 60-year-old bridge
Timeline:
WSDOT says the 60-year-old bridge had not had any maintenance work at that level in around 40 years. The weekend's project should end most of the Revive I-5 work for the year.
Wing says that next time, she plans to keep an eye on WSDOTs construction alerts.
"You know how the Instagram account has lot of doodles, we are like oh yeah, it was closed, so that’s how we checked after the fact," said Lam.
Construction begins again in 2027
WSDOT says work will start again on the bridge in early 2027 on the southbound lanes with the goal of finishing the entire project by the end of next year.
"We come from LA, so we are used to infrastructure projects that don’t accomplish anything. At least here they are getting stuff done," said Wing Lam, who lives near the Ship Canal Bridge.
The Source: Information in this story comes from the Washington State Department of Transportation and original interviews conducted by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Jennifer Dowling.
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