Revive I-5 reaches halfway point in Seattle

Monday, August 4, marked the halfway point on the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Revive I-5 project on Seattle’s Ship Canal Bridge.

A lot of work has been accomplished, and crews seem to be on pace to complete this section by Aug. 15, as projected.

So far, WSDOT contractors have removed the driving surface on about 900 feet of the two left lanes. They’ve also replaced the left half of five expansion joints and about 60 drains on the bridge.

The next two weeks will bring more repaving and drainage work.

Revive I-5 continues

On Friday, Aug. 15, all northbound lanes on I-5 will start closing around 9:30 p.m., leading up to the full closure. The mainline I-5 lanes will close near I-90 just before midnight. Drivers going downtown will need to exit at the Edgar Martinez Drive, Dearborn, James, or Madison streets exits.

People going north of downtown will be able to use the express lanes, which have remained open northbound since the beginning of this project. During the weekend-long closure that begins late on Aug. 15, the Columbia/Cherry on-ramp to the express lanes will be open to all drivers. Until early on Saturday, Aug. 16, that ramp remains HOV only.

Monday, Aug. 18, all northbound lanes on I-5 will reopen and remain free of closures until winter of 2026. That is when WSDOT will start this project again, this time blocking two right lanes across the Ship Canal Bridge.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Seattle next summer, Revive I-5 will pause for a few weeks so all lanes on I-5 will be accessible when an estimated 500,000 fans from across the globe convene in Seattle.

In mid-July of 2026, after the World Cup, WSDOT will continue Revive I-5 where they left off, closing two right lanes on the Ship Canal Bridge through the fall. In 2027, get ready for this project to shift to the southbound lanes starting with the closure of two left lanes in winter and summer, followed by two right lane closures through the fall.

Nate Connors is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Follow him on X. Read more of his stories here. Submit news tips here.

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