The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) reports that each direction of I-5 will be reduced to a single lane for 12 days beginning Sunday, May 10, to remove a barrier to fish passage beneath northbound lanes. People traveling northbound and southbound between Burlington and Bellingham should expect delays near Lake Samish Road (exit 240), especially during busier travel times.
During the 12-day lane reduction, crews working for WSDOT will install a new fish-passable structure beneath the northbound mainline. The work is part of a project correcting 17 barriers to fish migration along I-5 near Lake Samish.
As part of this work, the Lake Samish Road on-ramp to northbound I-5 also will close for 28 days beginning Sunday, May 3.
What I-5 Travelers Should Expect
Starting at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, May 10, northbound and southbound I-5 each will be reduced to one lane near Lake Samish Road (exit 240). Northbound traffic will use a temporary crossover road to the southbound mainline. Both directions of traffic will use the existing southbound I-5 lanes, with concrete barriers separating northbound and southbound vehicles. Speed limits will be reduced to 60 mph in the work area.
With traffic off northbound I-5, crews will excavate the roadbed, remove the old culvert and install a new fish-passable structure. This work will finish by Wednesday, May 22, and I-5 will return to its usual two-lane configuration in each direction.
During the lane reduction and northbound crossover, people should plan for delays, avoid busy travel times if possible and consider alternate routes. Commercial trucks could use State Route 9; passenger vehicles can use SR 9 or SR 11/Chuckanut Drive.
Alger On-Ramp Closure
Beginning at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, May 3, the Alger/Lake Samish Road on-ramp to northbound I-5 will close for 28 days to allow for installation of the new structure.
A signed detour will guide people to the Nulle Road on-ramp to northbound I-5 (exit 242) during the closure.
Throughout the work, people still will be able to use the off-ramp to Alger.
More I-5 Lane Reductions
After the new fish-passable structure is installed beneath northbound I-5, no long-term or daytime lane reductions or closures will occur while World Cup soccer tournament matches are played in the region June 12 to July 8, allowing fans to travel between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
After tournament play finishes in the region, construction will resume on I-5 with crews installing a new structure beneath southbound I-5. Northbound and southbound I-5 again will be reduced to one lane in each direction for 15 days in July to allow for this work. WSDOT will release dates for that lane reduction once it is scheduled.
Installing Fish Passages
The new structures near Lake Samish Road will remove 12 barriers along unnamed tributaries to Friday Creek and will provide a potential natural habitat gain of about 4.2 miles for coho, resident trout, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat.
In addition to WSDOT’s ongoing work to correct fish barriers statewide, a 2013 federal court injunction requires the state to correct culverts that are barriers to salmon and steelhead in western Washington.
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