WSDOT announces major summer road construction projects

Drivers beware summer road construction is shifting into high gear.

It kicks off this weekend in Seattle with work over State Route 520. This is just the start of the road work the Washington State Department of Transportation has planned for many months to come.

Montlake Boulevard in Seattle will be closed to traffic all weekend. It is part of the construction of a new, three-acre lid over SR 520. But the big project is happening south of Seattle, between SeaTac, Des Moines, and Kent.

The work there has already started. In fact, you have probably driven right by it on Interstate 5, and never even noticed.

That work is all part of the Puget Sound Gateway Project. A big part of it is the extension of SR 509 with a brand new line to I-5.

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels on I-5 and getting nowhere fast. Well, get a load of this.

It is the beginning of a new roadway completing the work on SR 509 that ended decades ago. In the next few weeks, new multi-ton girders will be installed in the Kent-Des Moines area including an addition to the 216th Street bridge.

“To set these girders, I-5 will be reduced to a single lane in one direction at a time from midnight to 4 a.m.,” said Kris Olsen, WSDOT spokesperson for the Puget Sound Gateway Project. “And that single lane will be funneled across the median into the opposite side of I-5.”

Olsen said the project with start in late June and take about 18 days in total. The project is designed to complete SR 167 in Pierce County and SR 509 in South King County.

The SR 509 extension includes a new, four-lane expressway meant to get freight traffic bound for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport off of I-5.

“It’s a massive project but it’s going to be a game-changer,” predicted Kyle Moore.

SeaTac spokesman Moore said his community is so eager for the new freeway, it chipped in $4 million to help move the project along.

“It’s a huge game changer, especially for cargo and freight,” said Moore. “You know we want fresh vegetables at the grocery store. We want our Amazon packages delivered on time, this is going to be one of those accelerators for those items.”

The plan is to divert traffic off of I-5 onto the new expressway.

It is a multi-year project. It isn’t expected to be completed until 2028. So you have been warned.

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