All I-5 Express Lanes Closed This Weekend For Construction

SHORELINE, WA - Consider this your three-day warning. Multiple lanes of I-5 will be closed in Seattle this week for Revive I-5 construction, and all express lanes will be out out of commission, too.

It's not a full closure like we've had in the past, but this weekend's lane reductions are expected to create "heavy traffic" throughout the region, according to WSDOT. The lane reductions begin Friday at 8 p.m. and span from the the Swift/Albro exit all the way up to the Roanoke exit north of the downtown area.

Southbound I-5 lanes will all be open, but without the express lanes, expect heavier traffic coming from Shoreline or Edmonds.

One key thing to know: all traffic will be rerouted to the collector-distributor lanes at the I-90 junction - those are the lanes that let you exit to Madison and James streets. Expect that area to be a major chokepoint.

Here are the closure details from WDOT:

• The express lanes will be closed in both directions during the same hours for expansion joint replacement.
• Northbound lane reductions will begin near the Swift Avenue/Albro Place off-ramp.
• Traffic will shift onto the northbound I-5 collector distributor, where drivers can exit to eastbound I-90, James or Madison streets, or continue through to rejoin the northbound I-5 mainline.
• All lanes will reopen near the SR 520 on-ramp.
• Northbound I-5 will be reduced to two lanes between SR 520 and Northeast 45th Street from 2 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 12. The Harvard Avenue East on-ramp to northbound I-5 will also be closed during this time.
• Northbound I-5 on-ramps closed: West Seattle Bridge/Spokane Street/Columbian Way; Edgar Martinez Drive; Westbound I-90; and University Street.
• Northbound I-5 off-ramps closed: Edgar Martinez Drive; Express lanes; Seneca Street; Olive Way; Roanoke/Lakeview Boulevard.

File photo by Neal McNamara/Patch