Welcome to Skagit County

September 17th, 2004

WSDOT WILL CLOSE LANES ON I-5 UNDER THE SECOND STREET BRIDGE

BURLINGTON – The Washington State Department of Transportation will close one lane in both directions of Interstate 5 through Mount Vernon next week to prepare for demolition and construction of the low clearance Second Street Bridge.

Crews will close one lane in both the northbound and southbound directions of I-5 at night between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., Sept. 21 through Sept. 23. Crews will install signs, place concrete barrier, shift lanes, and restripe the highway to prepare for demolition of the existing bridge and construction of the new bridge.

WSDOT will replace the old, low clearance Second Street Bridge with a new wider and taller bridge that will increase clearance for trucks, improve safety and reduce congestion on Mount Vernon streets.

The Second Street Bridge will be closed for up to 10 months starting October 4, when demolition begins. This will require full nighttime closures of Memorial Highway (State Route 536) and I-5. Crews will only close one direction of I-5 at a time. WSDOT is offering significant financial incentives to Mowat Construction, the contractor building the bridge, to get the work done as quickly as possible.

WSDOT will provide signed detour routes during road closures to help drivers navigate around construction.

When construction is complete on this $14.1 million project, the new Second Street Bridge will have three 12-foot wide vehicle lanes (two northbound and one southbound), bicycle lanes, sidewalks, and a height clearance of 18 feet 7 inches.

The existing bridge only has two lanes and a height clearance of 14 feet 4 inches, the lowest of all bridges on I-5 between Canada and Mexico. The low clearance forces taller trucks to detour off I-5, thus slowing freight mobility and congesting city streets in Mount Vernon.

For more detailed information about the project, please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/i5_2ndst_bridgerepl/.

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For updated information on the above and other Department of Transportation traffic revisions in the Puget Sound area, call the Commuter Information Line at DOT-HIWY (206-368-4499). The Commuter Information Line may also be reached toll free in Washington at 1-800-695-ROAD (7623). TTY users can call 1-800-833-6388 and ask for (206) 515-3683.

Traffic Engineering
Skagit County Public Works
1800 Continental Place
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
360.336.9400