‘Emergency I-5 repair’ created early morning traffic mess

Drivers had a lot to deal with on southbound I-5 through Seattle Tuesday morning, including an emergency repair on an expansion joint, backing up traffic for hours.

This happened just south of the Spokane Street Viaduct.

And this likely isn’t the end of repairs to this half-century-old freeway.

WSDOT says it found out around 7 a.m. Tuesday, that an expansion joint was buckling and needed to be repaired immediately.

By then, the morning commute was already in full swing. And the ripple effect lasted for hours.

This is near where the Revive I-5 project happened last summer.

But the expansion joint that needed repairing today wasn’t part of the Revive I-5 project. It’s just south of there.

And the traffic headache Tuesday could be a preview of what’s to come.

Chopper 7 showed the misery drivers endured at the worst possible time, 7 a.m. during the Tuesday morning commute. All of it was due to the emergency repair on southbound I-5.

“The emergency this morning was identified in the right two lanes of the bridge,” said James Poling, a spokesman from WSDOT’s traffic maintenance division.   “And that is the hazard that needed to be removed.”

Poling says their concern centered on an expansion joint they feared might give way.

“Our concern was exposed steel that could have damaged a tire, a suspension, or an underbody,” said Poling. “And who knows what could have happened then.”

In fact, that was the reason for the massive Revive I-5 project, replacing expansion joints to make for a safer, smoother ride on the aging bridge.

But the expansion joint that sparked the emergency repair Tuesday wasn’t replaced then.  Even at that, this work was to only the two right lanes.

“The two left lanes still need to be removed at some point,” he said. “They were not part of today’s emergency.”

It was not good news for drivers near the Chinatown-International District.

“There’s always some type of emergency in Seattle,” said Ianna Frare of Seattle. “Right here. There’s always an emergency.”

Others say they’ll avoid I-5 altogether.

“I don’t like the bumps like jumps up in the air,” said Kevin Chaney of Auburn. “My car’s floating up in the air. It’s messing up my bottom underneath my car.”

Tuesday’s repair took four long hours.  WSDOT says in the not-too-distant future, they will be repairing those left two lanes.

But there should be some warning before that work is done.  So, buckle up!

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