Sound Transit and WSDOT announce latest schedule for Link construction across I-5
Southbound I-5 will be completely closed next Wednesday & Thursday nights
Sound Transit continues its construction of a new light rail overpass across I-5 just south of the Boeing Access Road near Seattle’s southern border. Crews are employing a construction method and schedule that keeps the freeway open during the day, limiting lane closures and traffic impacts to nighttime hours.
This past week, the first four cantilever-balanced sections of the new overpass were placed on the west side of southbound I-5. There will be no work or lane closures tonight (Friday) or tomorrow night. Work and lane closures will resume Sunday night.
Beginning this Sunday night – January 7 – lane closures on southbound I-5 will resume on the following schedule (subject to change, especially due to weather conditions):
On Sunday, Jan. 7th, and Monday, Jan. 8th, three southbound lanes will be closed overnight. The first lane will be closed at 8:00 p.m., the second lane at approx. 11:00 p.m., and the third lane at midnight. All lanes will reopen by 6:00 a.m. each following morning.
Tuesday, Jan. 9th, four southbound lanes will be closed overnight. The first lane will be closed at 8:00 p.m., the second lane at approx. 11:00 p.m., and the third and fourth lanes at midnight. All lanes will reopen by 6:00 a.m. Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Jan. 10th and Thursday, Jan. 11th, southbound I-5 will be closed completely between midnight and 5:00 a.m. each following morning, and a detour route will be installed. Traffic on I-5 southbound will exit at Boeing Access Road (BAR), then turn left onto BAR, and then turn right at MLK onto the I-5 southbound on-ramp. Lanes will begin closing at 8:00 p.m., and the full freeway closure will occur at midnight. All lanes will reopen by 6:00 a.m.
Further lane and freeway closures will be posted later. Updated schedule information will be posted at http://www.soundtransit.org/x843.xml weekly or when the schedule changes.
The construction utilizes pre-cast concrete segments in a balanced cantilever design, a method first used in the Puget Sound region last summer when Sound Transit built a light rail bridge crossing the Duwamish River. For the I-5 overpass two large bridge piers have been built, one on each side of the freeway just south of the existing Boeing Access Road overpass. Starting with the pier adjacent to southbound I-5, giant cranes are hanging the pre-cast segments one at a time on alternating sides to keep the structure in balance. Steel tensioning cables running through the segments keep them in place as the structure extends in each direction. After the structure is built over the southbound lanes of I-5, the structure over the northbound lanes will follow, and the two structures will connect above the freeway.
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