I-5 work through Seattle postponed after pair of major crashes in north and south stall traffic

SEATTLE — Planned work to repair expansion joints on I-5 through Seattle has been postponed.

Initially, the Washington State Department of Transportation had planned to close the two left lanes of southbound I-5 on Thursday at 8 a.m. to remove fatigued expansion joint steel just sound of the West Seattle Bridge and Columbian Way.

WSDOT announced the work had been postponed just after 8 a.m., noting that there had been “a lot happening this morning.” That included a fatal crash on I-5 near JBLM after an armed robbery suspect hit a semi-truck, and a two-car collision that blocked all lanes of I-5 further north near Marysville.

Crews had been concerned the steel could come loose and cause road hazards, such as damaging cars’ tires. Thursday’s work would have removed the final sections of steel.

WSDOT has not announced when it plans to resume this project.

Essentially, expansion joints hold concrete slabs together, allowing them to expand and contract according to the weather and weight of vehicles.

On Tuesday, WSDOT did emergency work for the same thing in the two right lanes that caused traffic to back up for miles.

The work dragged on for four hours, causing backups all the way to the Ship Canal Bridge.

Last year, ten cars hit an expansion joint that popped up in the southbound lanes of I-5 at the Spokane Street Bridge in South Seattle.

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