Operations

Expect miles-long backups on I-5 South in WA this weekend

May 14, 2010

The Washington State DOT is warning truckers and other motorists to expect double and triple-lane closures on Southbound I-5 this weekend-- which may cause backups as long as 15 miles

Wendy Leavitt

The Washington State DOT is warning truckers and other motorists to expect double and triple-lane closures on Southbound I-5 this weekend-- which may cause backups as long as 15 miles.

The closures will be from 48th Street in Tacoma, WA to Gravelly Lake Drive in Lakewood, WA from 7 p.m. Friday, May 14 to 8 a.m. Sunday, May 16. The on ramp from Bridgeport Way to Southbound I-5 will also be closed during these work hours.

Engineers expect backups to be at their height Saturday and encourage drivers to avoid the area from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Backups as long as the five-mile delays seen during last weekend’s closure are expected to double, or even triple.

All travelers from Tacoma to Olympia and Southbound drivers from Seattle, who might seek SR 167 to SR 512 as an alternate route, will also experience extensive delays as construction is also expected to cause significant backups on SR 512. Updates will be available online.

About the Author

Wendy Leavitt

Wendy Leavitt joined Fleet Owner in 1998 after serving as editor-in-chief of Trucking Technology magazine for four years.

She began her career in the trucking industry at Kenworth Truck Company in Kirkland, WA where she spent 16 years—the first five years as safety and compliance manager in the engineering department and more than a decade as the company’s manager of advertising and public relations. She has also worked as a book editor, guided authors through the self-publishing process and operated her own marketing and public relations business.

Wendy has a Masters Degree in English and Art History from Western Washington University, where, as a graduate student, she also taught writing.