Lynnwood’s new Raising Cane’s opens today and could snarl one of Snohomish County’s busiest streets

Let’s start with the chicken.

Today’s the day Lynnwood and Mill Creek have been waiting for. Washington’s newest Raising Cane’s chicken joint opens on 164th Street S.W. today. This is the fourth location in Washington, and the first north of Seattle.

This opening has the potential to bog down one of Snohomish County’s busiest streets for a few weeks. This spot is only a thousand feet from the off-ramp from I-5. There is a Walmart a block away, and 164th Street is already close to impassable at its peak congestion.

Snohomish County engineer and deputy public works director Doug McCormick said uniformed officers will be directing traffic today.

“That is part of our plan, to have off-duty police officers, but whether that be Snohomish County or whether it be whoever’s in that pool that day that they can hire to help manage traffic for that grand opening,” he explained.

The county is also considering limiting left turns into the Raising Cane’s if congestion gets too bad. That could include adding small barriers on 164th Street to prevent turning.

We shall see, but you might want to use 128th Street off of I-5 for a week or so.

From Raising Cane’s chicken to a fish culvert: Kitsap drivers face 4-month closure

From chicken to fish. Drivers have been experiencing a new fish culvert detour in Kitsap County. It started last week on Sedgwick Road just northeast of Bethel, about a mile and a half from SR 16.

It’s a four-month closure of the road as contractors build a new bridge over Salmonberry Creek.

“The detour around it, fortunately, is pretty short,” the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) spokesperson Mark Krulish said. “You’re adding on only about a mile and a half to your drive, so you’re going to take some county roads around the closure, and you’ll be back on your way to the ferry before you know it.”

This closure is on the most direct route to the Southworth Ferry Dock. Once the bridge is built, workers will return next summer to remove the old culvert and fix the stream bed. The current culvert is 60 feet long, but 48 inches wide.

Speaking of things that need to be replaced or upgraded, the years-long effort to fix the US 2 trestle between I-5 in Everett and the Lake Stevens/Snohomish side of the road has taken its next step.

WSDOT is down to just a few options for upgrading the multiple structures that make up the trestle over Ebey Island. An online survey is now active through July 7 to get your feedback on what should be done to the trestle.

And finally, have you checked out Google Maps in Pierce County lately? I hadn’t during my time off, but listener Jason made sure I did.

The new SR 167 extension is now being shown on the map. This is the toll road that will connect Puyallup, where SR 167 as a freeway ends, and I-5 in Fife. This is known as the Gateway Project.

It is shown as a closed road that will open in November. Unfortunately, that is not correct. The section from Puyallup to I-5 won’t open until 2029, according to the latest schedule. The two-mile section from I-5 west to SR 509 near the Port of Tacoma is the section expected to open this November.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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