Good news for drivers: SR 529 bridge reopens in Everett after 5 months
Nov 18, 2024, 7:00 AM | Updated: 7:03 am
SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge north. (Photo: @cmh2315fl via Flickr Creative Commons)
(Photo: @cmh2315fl via Flickr Creative Commons)
Drivers through Everett will notice something different on their Monday morning commute: Less traffic! The State Route (SR) 529 bridge between Everett and Marysville has finally reopened.
Tom Pearce, communications consultant with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), revealed the good news last week.
“We are scheduled to reopen the northbound SR 529, Snohomish River Bridge Monday,” Pearce said. “Our contractor is finishing up work on a five-month closure that they’ve had on the bridge. They have repainted part of the bridge, and then they’ve also repaired the mechanical parts that lift the draw span on the bridge.”
Happy Monday! Rise and shine (or, moisten, if you’re outside long enough).🌧️
After five months of closure, commutes between @EverettCity & @WA_Marysville just got a bit easier. The northbound SR 529 Snohomish River Bridge has reopened! 529 is now open two lanes each direction.âś… https://t.co/NSwhJ4GZeJ
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) November 18, 2024
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During the past five months, drivers have had to split lanes on SR 529 south, causing extensive backups on surface streets through downtown Everett as drivers lined up to cross the Snohomish River.
Pearce shared that this project moved smoothly and had only a minor setback.
“Anytime you have a project of this scope, you’re always going to find some things,” Pearce said. “It took our contractor a little bit longer to finish than they thought because it’s a 97-year-old bridge, and anytime you open up something like that, you don’t know what you’re going to find, and so you have to sometimes react to what’s in the bridge.”
KIRO Newsradio asked if this project would move to the southbound bridge deck anytime soon.
“No,” Pearce said. “This project only is working on the northbound of the Snohomish River Bridge. Now, we do have some work on the southbound SR 529 Steamboat Slough Bridge coming up, and that’s going to require a couple of weekends. We don’t have those scheduled quite yet, but of course we’ll let people know once we do get those scheduled.”
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He added that part of the reason work is moving south is because crews have determined that bridge to be safe at this time.
“We have our bridge crews that evaluate all of our bridges every two years, and that includes overpasses on the freeways,” he said. “Those are evaluated at least once every two years to see what kind of condition they’re in, what kind of work they need. And so once our bridge crews determine that work is necessary, then of course, we put together a project and we get it done and get the bridge repaired.”
So, what changes will drivers see this morning? Well, not much, according to Pearce.
“When the northbound lanes reopen, the passengers will be able to notice a nice new paint job on part of the bridge,” he said “We don’t want the drivers looking right?”
You can read more of Nate Connors’ stories here. Follow Nate on X here and the KIRO Newsradio traffic team here for more traffic updates.
