A split second can change everything: A highway maintenance worker’s close call on I-90

By Tina Werner

An instant. That’s all it took for nighttime highway maintenance worker Josh Quilici’s life to flash before his eyes. Josh was treating Interstate 90 for snow and ice near Kittitas this past winter when he was hit by a semi-truck.

Josh, who helps keep major state routes open like Snoqualmie Pass during the harsh winter months, was driving a snowplow on the evening of January 17. His team works tirelessly around the clock to clear and treat highways, ensuring people and goods can travel safely through snowy conditions.

Around milepost 115, Josh’s routine shift took a terrifying turn. Another vehicle collided with his snowplow, flipping him upside down and sending him and his truck into a ditch.

 Josh’s upside down plow truck after being hit by another vehicle on I-90 in January.

“The next thing you know I was hit and rolling,” Josh recalls. “I was thrown into the air and rolled down an embankment. I hit my head against the steering wheel and had to figure out where I was and what happened.”

The driver responsible was later cited by the Washington State Patrol for driving under the influence and reckless endangerment

Despite the confusion and his injuries, Josh knew he needed to call for help and check on the other driver. Miraculously, a few good Samaritans stopped after witnessing the crash and helped him crawl out through a window. Crawling on the roof of his overturned snowplow to access the passenger side window, Josh was able to call 9-1-1. He also alerted our nearby dispatch center of what had just occurred so they could send backup.

Josh's snowplow was flipped upside down after being hit by a suspected drunk driver on I-90. Josh crawled out his narrow passenger window to safety and was transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

Josh suffered neck and back pain, facial injuries and large bruises on his forehead and nose. He was transported to a nearby hospital in Ellensburg for evaluation. Thankfully, Josh made a full recovery. This crash easily could have ended in tragedy, though, and is a stark reminder of the dangers our crews face. These crashes are totally preventable.

“If those people had not stopped to help me, who knows how long it may have been before I was able to get help,” Josh said.

Josh has worked with our agency for three years. He credits the support of his Ellensburg crew and supervisors for helping him through recovery. He was on medical leave for a short period and recently returned to work. Our agency also offers employee resources like the peer support program which provides a compassionate listening ear to individuals who have been exposed to traumatic events.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Josh has been hit. Another incident occurred on I-82 also by a suspect impaired driver.

Earlier this week, Josh bravely shared his story at our annual Worker Memorial ceremony in Lacey in front of 200 guests, families of our fallen workers and partners in work zone safety.

Josh’s message to drivers is simple: Think about others when you are on the road. Employees in work zones are spouses, parents, children, siblings and friends – and they all deserve to go home safe at the end of their shift. They aren’t nameless or faceless, and they deserve our respect and extra attention.

Most work zone crashes are easily preventable: According to the Washington State Patrol, the top three reasons for work zone collisions in 2025 (in this order) following too closely, excessive speed and inattention/distracted driving.

Josh’s story isn’t an isolated incident. In 2025, there were 1,557 crashes in work zones, a slight decrease from 1,607 crashes in 2024. The largest increase was in fatality collisions, which rose by 29 percent from 2024 to 2025. The overall number was slight – seven in 2024 to nine in 2025 – but even one death or one increase is too many. Every April, our agency dedicates the entire month to spread awareness about the importance of work zone safety.

While we are thankful Josh and his family are doing well, we know this could have been worse. Josh, a husband and father, says his biggest fear is not coming home to his family at the end of his shift. Every driver has a role in keeping highway workers safe.

Please slow down in work zones, put down your phone and never drive impaired. Lives depend on it.

Final pieces coming together on I-90 Sunset Creek fish passage project

By: Casey Conley

Much like a jigsaw puzzle, large-scale construction projects take shape one step at a time. Each interlocking piece builds on the last.

Taking that metaphor a step further, the full picture of the I-90 Sunset Creek fish passage project in Bellevue’s Factoria neighborhood is starting to come together.

Construction began on this multi-step project in early 2023. The expectation was that work would continue into 2027. We’ve reached a lot of milestones during the last three years. There are just a few more to go, and they are planned through 2026.

The most significant achievement so far is the construction of four bridges across Sunset Creek. Our contractor, Guy F. Atkinson Construction, built these new spans along I-90 and Southeast 36th Street.

The fourth and final bridge, constructed along Southeast Eastgate Way, opened to traffic in October 2025.

Final touches

People driving across the new Sunset Creek bridges can be forgiven for thinking the project is mostly complete. After all, the most visible pieces of this puzzle are now in place. But there is plenty of activity happening beneath those new bridges.

Since construction began in early 2023, contractor crews have built four new bridges across Sunset Creek.

Contractor crews are building concrete walls extending up to 50 feet below the freeway. These walls hold the steep hillside in place. The first phase of these walls is done, and work is underway on the remaining walls.

Contractor crews are currently building concrete walls that extend up to 50 feet below the freeway.

Once that’s done, we will remove the maze of culverts that previously carried Sunset Creek beneath nearly a dozen traffic lanes. These culverts prevent fish from swimming upstream.

We’re also planning important upgrades within Sunset Creek itself. Crews will construct a new stream channel running north-south between the bridges. We will place woody debris and other habitat improvements, giving fish a shady place to rest and stay safe from predators.

Then, we will reintroduce the stream into its new, open-air channel. This is one of the final pieces in this project. Depending on weather and other variables, we expect this will happen in early or mid-2027.

More work remains

We designed this project to minimize congestion and delays for people who live or commute along this section of I-90. We’ve had a healthy number of overnight lane and ramp closures over the last three years, but these occurred when traffic volumes were lowest. We’ll continue to have occasional overnight lane and ramp closures throughout the year as work enters the final stages.

Last spring, our environmental crews counted 43 juvenile coho salmon and 16 cutthroat trout in Sunset Creek near Southeast Eastgate Way. 

The eastbound I-90 HOV lane, which closed in spring 2023, will remain that way for much of the year. This closure makes space for crews to move construction material into the stream bed.

We’re planning more work along Southeast Eastgate Way in 2026. Crews began drainage and grading work in late March. We expect weekday single-lane closures on Southeast Eastgate Way near the new bridge to continue through much of 2026.

Improved fish habitat

The Sunset Creek drainage basin covers nearly 850 acres within the city of Bellevue from its source near Eastgate Park. There are chinook, coho, sockeye, steelhead and cutthroat trout in the stream.

Last spring, our environmental crews counted 43 juvenile coho salmon and 16 cutthroat trout in a small section of Sunset Creek north of I-90. The biggest fish was a cutthroat more than five inches long.

By the time we’re done, this project will open 1.65 miles of potential upstream habitat to salmon and resident fish.

More pieces to this puzzle

This project contains fish passage improvements bundled together into a single contract. Bundling work like this saves time and reduces construction costs.

Construction is now complete fish passage improvements along SR 203 south of Carnation, left, and SR 203 in Fall City. 

Later this year, three culverts that block fish passage on SR 161 in Federal Way and Milton will be replaced along tributaries to Hylebos Creek. We expect work in these areas to resume in early summer and wrap up in early fall. This part of the project opens a combined 2.2 miles of potential upstream habitat.

And in 2024 and 2025, we completed fish passages beneath SR 202 in Fall City and SR 203 to the north and south of Carnation. Taken together, these projects in east King County built three new bridge structures and opened a combined 3.4 miles of potential habitat.

Like a good puzzle, this project has taken time for the pieces to come together. But once the work is finished, we believe you’ll like the finished product.

Landslide closes northbound I-5 in Bellingham and a look at the work it takes to reopen the highway

By RB McKeon and David Rasbach

Landslide blocks all northbound lanes of I-5 near Bellingham

Update: 11 a.m. Friday, April 3

It's been two weeks since the March 19 slide that closed northbound Interstate 5 south of Bellingham. Though we do not have an estimate when lanes will reopen, our crews have been working seven days a week and will reopen northbound I-5 as quickly as it is safe to do so.

Earlier this week, we wrapped up scaling work on the top of the slope and began drilling holes to anchor 15- to 25-foot-long steel dowels. These dowels are placed in a pattern designed by on-site geotechnical engineers to help stabilize the slope. This work requires geotechs to constantly reassess the slope and adjust plans.

Near the bottom, crews are breaking up the largest boulders, including the "bus-sized" rock in the middle of the slope. On Wednesday, April 1, crews broke off a large section of that boulder using expansive grout and then used an excavator to break it up further. The boulder is so large, we'll have to repeat the process several times.

Geotechs still need to get a good look at what lies beneath the debris pile to develop plans to stabilize the bottom of the slope. Until we are able to do that work, northbound I-5 will remain closed at North Lake Samish Road (exit 246).

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Update: Friday, March 27

The work on northbound I-5 just south of Bellingham is a top down operation, meaning that crews must first stabilize and secure the upper portion of the slope before working their way down. As they do that, the geotechnical engineers on site are continuing to assess conditions and define the full scope of work in real time.

This past week, specialized crews began rock scaling on Wednesday, March 25, removing loose rock and hazard trees that could fall and cause more of the slope to slide. They started on the west side of the slide area and are moving east.

As scaling crews move east, drilling crews will begin setting anchors for their equipment. They expect to start drilling holes for steel dowels that will further stabilize the slope by Sunday, March 29. Crews also began using expanding grout to break boulders Friday, March 27.

Northbound I-5 remains closed, and we do not have an estimated timeline for reopening, but we will continue to provide updates.

Freight traffic should continue to detour using eastbound SR 20, northbound SR 9 and westbound SR 542. All other traffic will be diverted at North Lake Samish Road (exit 246) and is encouraged to consider alternate routes, such as SR 9 or SR 11/Chuckanut Drive. We ask drivers to be patient and follow the speed limits and traffic laws on the roads they are using.

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Original post:

A landslide has closed all lanes of northbound I-5 near Bellingham on, with large rocks, soil and trees across the roadway and an unstable slope.

Around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, two landslides came down onto northbound I-5 near milepost 248, closing all northbound lanes between North Lake Samish Road (milepost 246) and Fairhaven Parkway (milepost 251). The slide brought about 2,000 cubic yards of rock, soil and trees onto the roadway.

Some of the rocks are the size of pickup trucks and several are larger than a metro-bus, tumbling from 60 to 80-feet above and are now unstable and unsupported. The debris stretches about 250-feet along the highway and is up to 65-feet tall in places.

What WSDOT is doing

Heavy machinery used to break apart large rocks along northbound I-5 near Bellingham as crews begin clearing debris from the landslide area.

This is more than clearing debris. It is complex, specialized work and safety is at the core of every decision.

Geotechnical engineers have been on site since shortly after the slide, working to understand what’s happening on the slope, not just what came down on Thursday, but what could still come down.

WSDOT executed an emergency contract on Saturday, March 21, selecting Interwest Construction, Inc. as the contractor to perform the work needed to reopen the freeway.

Here’s what that work looks like:

Assessing the slope: Engineers are evaluating conditions above and behind the visible rock face, including cracks that can’t be seen from the roadway.

Clearing what’s safe: Crews are removing some debris from the bottom of the slide and breaking apart larger rocks so they can be hauled away.

Scaling the slope: Specialty crews using hand tools and compressed air are beginning to remove loose rock from the hillside, working from the top down to reduce risk.

Stabilizing the slope: Crews will shift between scaling and rock bolting – the process of drilling deep into the rock face and securing it to help prevent additional movement.

In some areas, the debris is actually helping to hold unstable rock in place. Removing it too soon could trigger another slide.

Crews are working seven days a week, but some of this work can only happen during daylight hours and under certain weather conditions.

We are moving as quickly and safely as we can to return the freeway to normal operations.

Why is the road still closed?

We know one of the biggest questions is: Why can’t you clear road and reopen at least one lane? Right now, it is not safe to do that. There is still unstable rock above the roadway that is unsupported and could fall. Crews are actively working on the slope, and we cannot have traffic moving through an active work zone where rocks could come down. Also, some of the debris that is remaining on the road is acting as a buffer, helping to protect the road surface and prevent additional damage.

Until we understand and stabilize what’s above the highway, reopening, even partially, is not possible. We do not have an estimated timeline for reopening.

What travelers need to know

Northbound I-5 remains fully closed between North Lake Samish Road (milepost 246) and Fairhaven Parkway (milepost 251). Southbound I-5 is open and unaffected by this slide.

Detours and alternate routes are available:

• SR 9 is the preferred route for freight
• SR 11/Chuckanut Drive is available for passenger vehicles but not suitable for freight.
• NB I-5 is being pushed off at exit 246 North Lake Samish

When a major highway like I-5 closes unexpectedly, drivers often follow directions from navigation apps, even onto roads that are not intended to handle that volume or type of traffic.

Traveler resources

• Visit the WSDOT travel map for real-time travel and traffic conditions
• Follow along on social media: X, BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok
• Sign up for email alerts
• Project page: Northbound I-5 Bellingham Slide – Emergency
• Project photos: Northbound I-5 slide near Bellingham
• Plan your route:
• SR 9 is the preferred route for freight
• SR 11/Chuckanut Drive is available for passenger vehicles
• As a reminder, WSDOT does not control third-party apps like Google, Waze or Apple.

Why this area is prone to slides and what we do to reduce risk

layers of soil and rock are visible on the exposed slop above northbound I-5 near Bellingham, where geotechnical engineers are assessing stability following the landslide.

This stretch of I-5 runs along a steep hillside made up of layered soils, rock and glacial material. In places, those layers can hold water and shift over time, especially during periods of sustained wet weather.

That combination of steep slopes, complex geology and moisture means this area is naturally prone to landslides.

Our maintenance crews regularly:

• Remove hazard trees and manage vegetation
• Clear drainage systems to move water away from slopes
• Inspect and maintain areas with a history of movement
• Install features like catchment areas or barriers designed to capture smaller debris before it reaches the roadway

You can see some of that work along I-5, including barriers meant to catch smaller rocks and debris. Large-scale slides like this, where significant amounts of material come down from higher on the slope, are much harder to predict and prevent. That’s especially true when there is movement happening above the visible rock face.

That’s why the work happening now is focused not just on clearing what came down but understanding and stabilizing what remains above the highway.

🎶 I can see clearly now the rain is (almost) gone 🎶

SR 99 from Lynnwood to Everett

You turned your clock back. The birds are singing. It's lighter later. And – dare to dream – the rainy season may soon be over. Spring is just around the corner, and so too is a new vision for SR 99 from Lynnwood to Everett. We are excited to share the final SR 99 Lynnwood and Unincorporated Snohomish County Pre-design Study report available on the study webpage.

Read on to learn about how and why we're trying to improve SR 99 for all travelers, what we've learned by talking to the community, and what's up next for our work.

Map showing the SR 99 study corridor from Lynnwood to unincorporated Snohomish County

🎶I can see all obstacles in my way 🎶

We know that this section of SR 99 has its challenges. Originally designed for cars and commerce, SR 99 through Snohomish County has room for improvement when it comes to providing comfortable, reliable options for all modes of transportation.

In 2023, we received grants to study how to improve SR 99 to meet Complete Streets requirements and to better integrate SR 99 into the local network. One way we assessed what improvements are needed is by looking at the key challenges of the area based on data and community and agency feedback. Challenges identified include:

• Stressful conditions for people walking and biking.
• Incomplete bike and pedestrian facilities and missing connections.
• Large distances between controlled pedestrian crossings.
• Between 2019 and 2023, there were more than 60 fatal or serious injury crashes.
• Unreliable or lack of access to transit.
• Balancing the needs of freight and local traffic.
• Too few affordable, healthy travel options for everyone.

However, for all its challenges, this section of SR 99 has so many opportunities:

• Three Community Transit Swift bus rapid transit lines run along (Blue line) or cross (Orange and Green lines) the corridor.
• Link light rail is close by today, while a future unfunded Link station at SR 99 and Airport Road will serve the community.
• Existing and future planned Business Access and Transit lanes between 148th Street Southwest and Airport Road to help prioritize buses over other vehicles.
• Paine Field is just north of the area, serving as a major regional travel and employment hub.
• New housing options are being developed right along the corridor.

New housing is being built along the SR 99 corridor in Snohomish County

🎶 Here is the rainbow I've been prayin' for 🎶

We wanted to hear what you, the community, thought about options to improve SR 99. And hear from you we did! We heard comments and feedback from nearly 1,000 people via tabling events, online open houses and surveys, and focus groups.

According to you, these are the most important investments we could make:

Theme	Summary of Community Feedback
Better Transit Service	Community emphasized the need for buses to be on schedule and reliable. Community requested easier access to bus stops.
Pedestrian‑Level Amenities and Lighting	Community highlighted the importance of better lighting and a more welcoming streetscape for pedestrians, specifically landscaping and trees.
Slow Traffic Speeds	Community requested slower traffic speeds in locations where speeding and walking frequently overlap.
More Frequent Controlled Crossings	Community identified areas lacking controlled crossing spots, particularly around commercial areas and activity centers.

Based on this feedback, we developed two types of recommendations.

The first type of recommendation was for corridor-wide concepts which show the details of a roadway like number of lanes, bicycle and pedestrian facilities and center median. There were two of these: separated bike lanes or shared-use paths.

Take a look at each of these:

Corridor-wide concept showing separated bike lanes and sidewalks alongside SR 99

Corridor-wide concept showing a shared-use path that combines walking and biking space behind a landscaped buffer

While similar in that each recommended corridor-wide concept offers separate travel lanes for cars and buses, landscaping closest to the sidewalk, and improved pedestrian lighting, the big difference is how people walking or bicycling travel: either in separated bike lanes and sidewalks, or traveling together in a shared-use path. The idea for these two concepts is that they are interchangeable, depending on which concept makes the most sense in specific places.

The second type of recommendation are spot treatment packages which consist of multiple spot treatments in different types of locations. There are four spot treatment packages.

Examples of spot treatments that can make crossings shorter, clearer, and more comfortable for people walking and rolling

The first spot treatment package, Enhancements at Traffic Lights, combines multiple spot treatments like crosswalks, pedestrian crossings and crossing islands that could be implemented where there is an existing traffic signal such as the intersection of SR 99 and SR 524/196th Street Southwest.

Package 1 combines multiple improvements that can be implemented at traffic signals to improve safety and comfort.

The third spot treatment package, controlled pedestrian crossing, adds a new signalized crossing for pedestrians in between roadway intersections, which combines crosswalks, a pedestrian island, pedestrian signals, and improved lighting spot treatments.

Dedicated bus lanes can improve transit reliability while the corridor is redesigned to better support all travel modes.

Check out our complete study to learn more about the corridor-wide concepts and the spot treatment packages plus where we might build them.

🎶Look all around, there's nothin' but blue skies 🎶

We're excited about the corridor-wide concepts and spot treatment packages you helped us develop. These will provide new and improved options for people to walk, roll, bike, take the bus or drive:

• Walk, roll, or bike: More dedicated space. Better connections to Swift buses along the corridor. Bike facilities. Improved sidewalks and crossings.
• Take the bus: Dedicated bus lanes mean more reliable arrival times and better connections to light rail.
• Drive: Maintaining four vehicle lanes (two in each direction). Access to residences, local businesses and services is maintained. Expect some traffic congestion during rush hour.

🎶 It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright), sun-shiny day 🎶

Even though we finished our study, in a way, our work is just beginning.

We're going to keep working with the community and our partners at the cities of Lynnwood, Everett, and Edmonds, Snohomish County, Community Transit and Sound Transit. Together, we can figure out how to make these concepts reality.

Our study is only the first step. We will need additional funding, partnership and engagement to finish our work and build the complete vision.

Read more information on our project website: SR 99 Lynnwood and Unincorporated Snohomish County Pre-design Study | WSDOT

Take a 3-minute break with Jimmy Cliff, who inspired the theme of this blog post: https://youtu.be/MrHxhQPOO2c?si=Z68HwsNEQqBWnyii