Construction projects near Marysville to mess with traffic until 2025
Apr 27, 2023, 4:55 AM
The Interstate 5/State Route 529 interchange (Photo from the City of Marysville)
(Photo from the City of Marysville)
The first big lane shift for the new Interstate 5/State Route 529 interchange in Marysville happens Thursday night, but that’s not the only construction project in the area that people need to be aware of.
All lanes of SR-529 will close at 10 p.m. Thursday between I-5 and the Ebey Slough in Marysville. This is the first big part of the new I-5/SR-529 interchange, which will eventually have new on and off ramps from SR-529 to I-5.
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Contractors need to create a work zone for the upcoming construction.
“We’re going to shift the traffic over, and we’re going to start using the northbound lanes,” the Washington Department of Transportation’s Tom Pearce said. “We’re going to create one southbound lane on the northbound lanes and will reduce the northbound to a single lane, and that’s going to go up to I-5.”
That one-lane configuration in south Marysville is going to last for about 18 months until the entire interchange is done. Those lanes should open by 4:30 a.m. Friday.
Pearce said they are building a roundabout there to help distribute the traffic to that new interchange.
“Roundabouts are a really good choice for traffic control in some locations because you don’t end up with traffic backing up and waiting for a light,” Pearce said.
Once completed, this new interchange will be a game changer.
“When we have the new ramps open, people are going to be able to get off and go right onto State Avenue, or they’re going to be able to head south and be able to get onto I-5,” Pearce said. “They’re not going to have to cross the railroad tracks, which is going to make it a little more convenient for everybody.”
But as this work in Marysville gets underway, two more projects are on the horizon, both on SR-529 between Marysville and Everett.
Later this year, work on the northbound span over the Snohomish River Bridge will begin. Pearce said contractors need to replace or repair the steel trusses and do work on the lifting mechanism.
“We’re going to have to close that bridge for four months,” Pearce said. “Coast Guard requirements say that we need to keep that bridge where we can move it when shipping comes through. While we’re doing this work, we’re not going to be able to move the bridge, which means we’re going to just basically have to leave it in the up position full time.”
Northbound drivers will be detoured onto the southbound span during this closure. There will be one lane in each direction on that span until the work is done. There will also be weekend bridge closures and lane closures during the project, which should be finished in January 2025.
The final project is work on the Steamboat Slough Bridge.
“In early fall, we’re going to go to bid on a project to paint the southbound Steamboat Slough Bridge,” Pearce said. “To do that work, we need to reduce that bridge down to one lane so we can paint, for example, the left half of the bridge, and then we’ll shift the traffic over, and we’ll paint the right half of the bridge.”
This work should be done in late 2024.
We will be watching all three of these projects closely and giving you heads-up on the lane closures and restrictions as they progress.
Check out more of Chris’ Chokepoints.
