Plan ahead: WSDOT to close 3 freeways this weekend

It’s going to be a beautiful weekend in Seattle. The best way to celebrate? How about shutting down three freeways at the same time?

It’s happening this weekend.

Southbound I-405 in Kirkland. Northbound I-405 in Renton. Southbound I-5 in Seattle. All of these freeways will be shut down at some point this weekend. Two of them all weekend long. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) even planned to have Southbound SR 167 in Kent between Willis and 277th Street shut down from 12 a.m. Friday until 4 a.m. Monday before deciding against it Thursday afternoon for an undisclosed reason.

This is a combination of maintenance, preservation, and a bunch of construction.

“It’s going to be a lot of paving and a lot of concrete panel replacement,” Craig Smiley, construction communications manager for WSDOT, said. “We’re going to be doing a lot of drainage work and replacing sign structures. Those are all things that require full closures.”

WSDOT admits that there is no good time to shut down a freeway, much less four at one time, during peak summer travel.

“We don’t like doing these full closures, but sometimes they are necessary,” Smiley said. “Summer is a very short window to get a lot of work done.”

If you want added lanes on I-405 or necessary maintenance, this is just the price the region has to pay.

“It’s a really complex puzzle trying to put all these projects together and get the work done in a reasonable amount of time and minimize impacts as much as possible,” Smiley said.

WSDOT says avoid driving through areas as much as possible

So what’s the best game plan?

It’s the simplest, and it’s almost insulting. But just avoid driving through these areas. Not very realistic, I know. Postpone your trip. Use light rail. Alter your schedule. No matter what, this will have a regional impact.

“The detours can’t handle the volumes the freeways normally handle,” Smiley said. “We need everybody’s patience and in the end it will be worth it, but it’s going to be tough going.”

Here’s a look at the closures specifically.

Southbound I-5 will be closed at Stewart Street under the Convention Center from 11 p.m. Friday night. This closure lasts until 6 a.m. The express lanes will remain open southbound. This closure will likely have the least amount of impact.

Southbound I-405 will be closed through Kirkland from 11 p.m. Friday night through 4 a.m. Monday. The closure extends from 124th Street in Totem Lake to 70th Place.

Northbound SR 405 will be closed in Renton from 11:59 p.m. Friday night through 4 a.m. Monday. This closure is at the SR 169 interchange and Sunset Boulevard.

These three closures will have a regional impact. Expect delays to ripple across any of your travel plans.

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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