Navigating rough roads between highway projects: Rough Roads signs coming to I-5 in Clark County

By Celeste Dimichina & Kelly Hanahan

Maintaining roads and ensuring travelers safety is our top priority. But the reality is, there’s a lot of work to do.

Every day, our maintenance crews work to keep the roads open and safe for every user. When they see potholes, they work to fill them. When they see tree branches hanging over the roadway or blocking road signs, they trim them. This is their mission: building and maintaining systems to keep people and goods moving throughout our state every day. Sometimes that means making temporary repairs until we have funding for the needed long-term projects like rebuilding roadways or replacing concrete panels.

If you see Rough Road signs along your favorite highway, this is what’s happening. These signs warn people that traveling the roadway ahead needs a little more care until we can address failing pavement.

Rough Roads in Southwest Washington

If you often travel Interstate 5 and 205 in Clark County, you already know what we are talking about. Failing concrete panels that are sunken or cracked make a very bumpy commute. The section of southbound I-5 between Ridgefield and I-5/I-205 split is made up of 8,400 concrete panels. Hundreds of which have cracked, settled and ultimately must be replaced. These panels were originally installed 50-70 years ago and are beyond repair. Additional factors like extreme weather (ice storms!) and increased traffic volumes only worsen the roadways already long overdue for replacement.

What’s happening?

Travelers heading south on I-5, between Ridgefield and the I-5/I-205 junction in Salmon Creek will soon see a series of Rough Road warning signs.

These signs will be strategically placed just after on-ramps and just before rough patches of roadway, giving people advanced warning of road conditions ahead. Travelers will also notice signs that advise speed limit reduction from 70 mph to 60 mph and from 60 mph to 50 mph.

The main goal of these signs is to encourage travelers to take extra care until we make long-term road repairs. By giving advanced warning, drivers can adjust their speeds.

Are these roads going to be fixed?

Yes! As funding has become available, we have focused on addressing the “worst of the worst” panels first. We will continue to work on it until we’ve rehabilitated the entire section of roadway, but that will take several years. In 2017, we identified six projects to address in this stretch of interstate between the I-5/I-205 split and Woodland. Due to budget constraints, many of these projects have been delayed. We don’t determine our ultimate budget and are continuing to work with state leaders on the best way to pay for these repairs and others across our state.

Upcoming projects

Beginning in summer 2024 we’ll start a project estimated at around $2 million. This project will replace about 25-30 of the most damaged concrete panels on southbound I-5 between Ridgefield and the I-5/I-205 split.

In 2025, we’ll tackle another project valued at approximately $12 million. This one will focus on fixing and smoothing out all panels on a section of southbound I-5 from 179^th Street to the I-5/I-205 split.

If funding is available, we’ll undertake an approximately $25 million project in 2025-2026 to fix and smooth out all panels on southbound I-5 between Ridgefield to 179^th Street. To give you an idea of the scale, this project will use more than 100,000 tons of asphalt. One truck carries 15 tons. That adds up to more than 6,600 trucks full of asphalt for this one project.

Recent projects

While there is more work to do, we have made other recent improvements.

Between 2004-2020, we repaired and resurfaced failing concrete panels in Clark County between Ridgefield and the I-5/I-205 split.

In 2021, a $7.6 million project fixed and smoothed out a section of panels on southbound I-5 between North Fork Lewis River and East Fork Lewis River just south of Woodland.

Between 2022-2023, we completed a nearly $9 million project to replace 100 of the most damaged panels on southbound I-5 between 179^th Street and the I-5/I-205 split while also rehabilitating bridge joints along I-205.

Rough roads can reduce fuel efficiency, which means you spend more on fuel. They can also affect tire wear and vehicle repair costs. Slower speeds required on deteriorated roadways also means lost time for commuters and freight transporters. We have a backlog of work waiting on funding for preservation projects.

We have a lot of work ahead of us to improve the condition of this stretch of highway. Thank you for your patience while we work on repairing or replacing sections of this road for smoother travel.