Road closures, special events sure to clog Seattle weekend traffic
Jun 20, 2014, 7:04 AM
Another full closure of the SR 520 bridge combined with a marathon on Saturday almost guarantees traffic headaches in Seattle this weekend.
The 520 floating bridge closes at 11 p.m. Friday night and reopens Monday at 5 a.m. The closures cover the distance between I-405 and I-5. Other closures are planned on I-5, I-90, and SR 99 in Seattle.
“It’s going to be a very, very busy weekend,” said Ian Sterling, with the Washington State Transportation Department.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon brings an early closure of the I-90 express lanes, from 3 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday. In Seattle, the left lane of the I-5 express lanes will close from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
In Seattle, the northbound lanes of SR 99 will close all weekend from South Spokane Street to Valley.
“There’s lots of work going on on either side of the tunnel while tunneling is stopped, while Bertha awaits repairs, so this closure is needed to re-route a temporary 99 to allow the next phase of construction to proceed,” said WSDOT spokeswoman Laura Newborn.
The 520 closure will allow contractors to do extensive paving, “placing more than 10,000 tons of asphalt on the eastbound lanes of 520,” said Sterling. Crews will also do paving at the west end connection, where the new bridge will connect with the existing bridge.
Traffic managers are asking drivers to plan ahead, check websites and other sources for real-time traffic information before they drive in and around Seattle this weekend.
More details on this weekend’s traffic alerts can be found at the WSDOT website.
