Washington: I-5 SB Denny Way to N.E. 117th Street

Sixty-Year-Old Highway Sees “Revival”  

Challenge: Washington’s Interstate 5, which runs north and south is one of the busiest corridors in the nation carrying hundreds of thousands of commuters each day, as well as freight trucks moving between Mexico and Canada. It’s a lifeline that people and commerce count on daily. When the Seattle section of I-5 was constructed in the 1960s, designers expected it to last about 25 years before needing major work. The freeway held up well for more than 50. But by the mid-2010s major preservation projects became necessary.  

Solution: With help from the federal infrastructure investment law, crews will breathe new life into a key stretch of the highway through downtown Seattle and north across the Ship Canal Bridge near the University of Washington. It is all part of the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) Revive I-5 initiative – a long-term plan that includes dozens of separate projects. This work combines several of those projects with pavement and bridge deck repair and replacement, new expansion joints, and seismic work to strengthen bridges against earthquakes.

What they’re saying: “Interstate 5 is vitally important to our local and the national economy as it provides the west coast connection from Canada to Mexico,” said WSDOT Project Engineer Tom Collins. “The freeway has held up well since it was opened in the mid-1960s, but some recent emergency expansion joint repairs, weekly pothole repair on the Ship Canal Bridge deck, and a recent emergency contract for concrete panel replacements are sure signs this work is needed now. Repairing concrete pavement, bridge decks and expansion joints will extend the life of this section of I-5 for years.”