ISSAQUAH, Wash. — For the second week, the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 will be reduced to just one lane for over two and a half days, as crews repair damaged concrete near the bridges over East Fork Issaquah Creek.
The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said maintenance crews are repairing worn-out bridge decks on westbound I-90 which will require a 56-hour lane reduction. The highway will be reduced to one lane from 10 a.m. on Monday through 6 p.m. on Wednesday, about a mile west of the Preston interchange.
“We've heard a lot from folks about issues on westbound I 90 with rough pavement, and some areas that really do need repairs,” said Tom Pearce.
Starting on Monday morning, Pearce said people should plan ahead.
“People should prepare for more backups because whenever we reduce three lanes of freeway down to one lane, there are going to be backups," Pearce said. "When we did this work earlier this week. We saw backups that you were two to three miles at times. Other times they were shorter. We really got a lot of help from people who chose to you use alternative routes, or they delay their travels."
The WSDOT said the biggest difference in the work from April 17-19 is the side of the road crews will work on. Traffic will shift to the right instead of the left.
“People who are using the right lanes of westbound I-90 right now will notice a big difference because we do have a smooth approach to that bridge,” Pearce said. “After we do the work on Monday through Wednesday next week, then all of the lanes are then going to be pretty smooth going across there.”
WSDOT officials said people traveling on westbound I-90 are likely to experience delays, particularly during peak morning commute hours.
“We saw our biggest delays during the morning commute into mid-morning or early afternoon," Pearce said. "By the time we got to afternoon, it had pretty well leveled off. It was still probably a 5 to 10-minute delay. But it could have been a lot worse.”
With the area crews are working on Pearce said there are not a lot of good alternatives.
These are the alternate routes WSDOT recommends:
- People going to the Green River Valley south of Renton should consider using State Route 18 and SR 169 or SR 167.
- From the North Bend/Snoqualmie area, people should consider using SR 202 to Southeast Duthie Hill Road/Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road.
Four more lane reductions are scheduled along westbound I-90 near Preston this spring.
- 9 p.m. May 14 to 4 a.m. May 18, westbound about 3.5 miles west of Preston.
- 9 p.m. May 21 to 4 a.m. May 25, westbound about 3.5 miles west of Preston.