LYNNWOOD — A section of I-5 pavement skinned off nearly two years ago for a road project is at last scheduled to be fixed.
Nighttime closures of ramps and lanes are planned for five weeks, beginning Monday night, to allow crews to repave a coarse stretch of southbound I-5 in Lynnwood. The one-mile section runs from I-405 to 196th Street SW.
The pavement was ground down in the fall of 2010 in preparation for the $32.5 million ramp reconfiguration project that took about a year.
The southbound lanes were scheduled to receive a new top layer after the ramps were finished in October 2011, but cold and wet weather forced the state to shelve the work for the winter, officials said.
Crews need a somewhat predictable stretch of warm weather to do the job, said Meghan Pembroke, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
Conditions have to be warm and dry for fresh asphalt to settle and harden properly, according to Cathy Arnold, a project engineer for the transportation department.
Ramps to southbound I-5 from 164th Street SW, 196th Street SW, I-405, and possibly Highway 525 are planned to be closed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Thursday nights, Pembroke said. The ramp from the Ash Way park-and-ride lot to southbound I-5 is scheduled to be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. the same nights.
The off-ramp from southbound I-5 to 196th Street SW is planned for closure from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday and Tuesday nights only.
Beginning July 16, up to three lanes of southbound I-5 between 164th Street SW and 196th Street SW are scheduled to close nightly for paving, Pembroke said. The first lane is scheduled to close at 8 p.m., the second at 10 p.m. and the third at 11 p.m. from July 16-19. All lanes will open by 5 a.m. the following day. Paving will continue on a similar schedule for about four weeks, or approximately until the week of Aug. 13.
All the work is subject to weather, Pembroke said.
Crews plan to return in late August or early September to paint permanent lane markings on the new road surface. Closures for four more nights will be needed for this work.
The new ramps were rebuilt to reduce weaving for drivers entering southbound I-5 from I-405 and Highway 525, and others exiting I-5 onto 196th Street SW.
Since the project was finished, southbound I-5 drivers headed for 196th have been exiting at a new off-ramp at the I-405 underpass, so they’ve been missing the rough stretch of pavement altogether.
Learn more
For more information and updates on roadwork on southbound I-5 through Lynnwood, go to tinyurl.com/I-5RoadWork.
Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.
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