Two months of roadwork for major repairs on the northbound North Fork Lewis River Bridge is set to begin Friday, the Washington State Department of Transportation states.
Beginning at 9 p.m. Sept. 8, the three lanes of travel will drop to two approaching the northbound bridge, south of Woodland, with reduced speed limits, a release from the department stated. The project will close off half of the bridge at a time, allowing for a safe work zone that also allows more efficient work.
The road work will take place around the clock once it begins, according to WSDOT. Delays and backups are expected to be heaviest on Friday evenings and could be longer than 50 minutes with backups of more than seven miles.
WSDOT Project Engineer Susan Fell is aware of the potential for significant backups and increased travel times.
“However, this construction staging approach prioritizes safety, efficiency and prompt execution of the work,” Fell said in the release. “Given the deteriorating condition of this bridge deck and its importance as a crucial West Coast connection on I-5, this project is vital to enhance structural integrity, maintain smooth travel for commuters and goods and, when complete, will minimize the need for emergency bridge closures.”
The northbound bridge was built in 1968. Both northbound and southbound bridges see about 41,000 vehicles cross daily, according to information from WSDOT.
Other than painting in 2013, the northbound bridge hasn’t had any “programmed” repairs, according to WSDOT. There have been “frequent emergency” repairs to the deck in the past several years to patch up holes.
Those emergency repairs mean no heads-up for motorists, which leads to significant backups. Those repairs have also grown more frequent, the department stated.
The $17.4 million project includes deck repair, expansion joint work and new bridge joint seals on both northbound and southbound spans, the release stated. The improvements will lead to smoother driving and fewer unplanned lane closures due to emergency repairs.
A weight restriction on the northbound span will be lifted once the work is complete, WSDOT stated. The southbound bridge over the North Fork Lewis River will receive its own repairs next year, which are scheduled for summer 2024.
The major northbound repairs follow preparation for the project that began Aug. 16 with nighttime lane closures to set up the “smart work zone” system WSDOT is using for the project.
That system features temporary reader board signs placed about every mile leading up to the work zone to give drivers notice of the conditions ahead and when to merge.
The signage is intended to allow more efficient merging ahead of the lane closure, the department stated. Using a “zipper” merge technique will help avoid delays.
The project, including the preparation work in August, was initially scheduled to begin at the start of that month, according to WSDOT information. The around-the-clock work allowed under the safe work zone concept will also speed up the rate of progress for the project, the department stated.
WSDOT encourages drivers to stay on I-5 and not to take alternate routes.
“The local roads do not have the capacity for high volumes of traffic, and some loads may not be able to get through,” the department stated in project information.
