EVERETT — For those keeping track at home, road crews have replaced 29 of the 41 expansion joints over I-5 bridges between Everett and Marysville as part of a two-year, $5.3 million maintenance project.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of hassles ahead.
Installing the final 12 could create another six weeks of weekend traffic slowdowns and some week-day headaches as well.
Work on the southbound expansion joints has been completed, said Lisa Van Cise, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation. The project now shifts into the northbound lanes.
Crews will paint narrower lanes of travel on the Steamboat Slough and Ebey Slough bridges before getting to the expansion joints. Road striping is a weather dependent. Based on forecasts, the earliest the work was expected to begin was Friday.
Weekends — beginning this Saturday — are reserved for replacing the expansion joints. During that time, only two narrower lanes will be available.
On weekdays, three narrower lanes in which the speed limit will be 45 mph will be open but traffic could flow much slower than that at times.
Van Cise recommends people carpool and plan their travel in earlier or later hours to avoid significant back-ups. Traffic also could be slower on alternative routes, such as highways 9 and 529.
“This will be several weeks of narrowed lanes for drivers, even during the weeks,” Van Cise said.
The work is critical for safety and longevity of the stretch of I-5 between Everett and Marysville.
Expansion joints allow concrete sections of bridges to expand and contract as temperatures go up and down and traffic loads vary. As the joints deteriorate, they become safety hazards to drivers. They can bend, crack or collapse.
The expansion joints being replaced range from 20 to 30 years old.
Drivers heading south late at night also face a detour around the 116th Street overpass that separates Marysville from the Tulalip Indian Reservation.
Demolition crews are finishing tearing down the old bridge deck. They did the work on the northbound lanes last week and are scheduled to finish up on the southbound lanes this weekend.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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