Road construction season moving into high gear on I-5, SR 529 in Marysville

By Tom Pearce

As we move through March, we're getting close to the change of seasons. The weather is becoming warmer (sort of), the days are growing longer, trees are budding. That can only mean one thing – it's road construction season.

OK, so it means two things. But the arrival of spring heralds the time of year when we can do our most ambitious work. We're kicking it off with a big closure the last weekend of March near Marysville in Snohomish County.

From 11 p.m. Friday, March 28, to 4:30 a.m. Monday, March 31:

• the southbound I-5 off-ramp to southbound SR 529 will be closed.
• southbound SR 529 at the Ebey Slough Bridge will be closed.

This weather-dependent work could be postponed if it rains.

We'll accomplish a couple things during this closure. One of our contractors will tie in the new southbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 529, while another contractor works on the southbound SR 529 bridge. Coordinating these two projects means one less closure for people who use SR 529.

In February, contractor crews placed girders for the new southbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 529. The new ramp is scheduled to open at the end of March.

To finish the new ramp from southbound I-5 to SR 529, we need a weekend-long closure of the temporary off-ramp people have been using for about a year, as well as the right lane of I-5. We also need to close a section of SR 529 where the new off-ramp connects to the highway, north of Steamboat Slough.

Our contractor crews have worked on the new southbound I-5 off-ramp for about a year. For the past several months, people have used a temporary ramp. This closure will allow our contractor to finish paving and lane striping at both ends of the ramp; when they finish, the new ramp will open the morning of March 31.

It's all part of a larger project to complete the I-5/SR 529 interchange. In late spring or early summer, we'll open a new SR 529 on-ramp to southbound I-5 and a new northbound I-5 off-ramp to SR 529, offering another option for people going to or from Marysville. This project includes a roundabout, which will allow people exiting northbound I-5 to use southbound SR 529 as well as the northbound highway.

It's always construction season

Even referring to spring as the start of construction season is a bit of a misnomer anymore. The days when we would reduce work to mostly maintenance when the weather gets cold are history. The amount of preservation and improvements needed means we have to work all year. Our contractors and maintenance crews have been working on I-5, I-90, SR 203, SR 509 and many others throughout the winter.

We appreciate you paying attention in work zones to keep the people working on these projects safe, especially during the long, dark winter nights. As we move into longer, warmer days, please drive carefully, especially in any work zone.