KING COUNTY, Wash. — The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) closed multiple lanes of westbound Interstate 90 east of Issaquah on Sept. 11 to begin repairing broken concrete.
The work will cause westbound I-90 to be reduced to only one lane for most days during a two-week period, the department said.
WSDOT crews closed two left lanes of westbound I-90 about 1.5 miles west of the High Point interchange at 9 p.m. on Sept. 11. Lanes are expected to reopen by 5 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Crews will also close the two right lanes in the same area from 9 p.m. on Sept. 18 until 5 a.m. on Sept. 23.
During the closures, the WSDOT said crews will remove broken concrete panels, complete soil and drainage work and repave a 1,550-foot section of roadway with asphalt.
The department said the nearly 45-year-old concrete needs to be removed before repaving because the concrete is “cracked to the point where repaving is not an option.”
The WSDOT said the closures are taking place during the week due to heavier traffic on the weekends during the summer and early fall.
The department said a retaining wall was added near milepost 19 to cap an old coal mine shaft when the section of I-90 was built in the 1970s. The mine collected water over the years, which eventually seeped under I-90 causing the concrete pavement to crack with winter freezes and extreme summer heat.
Around 29,000 vehicles use the section of westbound I-90 each day.
“When all three lanes are open, it's generally a free-flowing stretch. Forcing all traffic into one lane is going to create backups, particularly at peak hours,” the WSDOT said in a blog post.
During the closures, the WSDOT said drivers can help reduce the number on cars on the road by using transit, carpooling, working remotely and by avoiding westbound I-90 during the morning commute.
“We understand these solutions won't work for everyone, but people who can choose one of these options will spend a bit less time sitting in traffic,” the WSDOT said. “If enough people do something different, we can limit backups for everyone.”
The two weeks of lane reductions are the first of six planned weeklong closures to smooth the one-mile section of interstate west of High Point Way and repair two bridges along the East Fork Issaquah Creek Preston and Highlands Drive Northeast.
According to the WSDOT, the project will also require the following:
- Two weeks to replace concrete just before the I-90 bridge west of High Point Way
- Two weeks to repave the bridge about a mile east of the SE 82nd Street on-ramp near Preston
- Individual concrete panels will be replaced during overnight lane reductions
The dates of the additional work have not been announced at this time. The project is scheduled to be completed in fall 2023, according to the WSDOT. The $11.2 million project is paid for by state, federal and federal emergency funds.
