Lanes of Ship Canal Bridge reopen after ‘urgent maintenance work’

SEATTLE — Two right lanes of southbound I-5 on Seattle’s Ship Canal Bridge were closed for hours as crews repaired the pavement Tuesday morning.

The closures effected both the southbound mainline and lower deck express lanes.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said the closures were needed for “urgent maintenance work.”

That work was expected to take a few hours, but was later changed to no estimated time for reopening.

The lanes reopened shortly before 10:30 a.m.

Crews were dispatched to the southbound lanes at about 5:45 a.m. on Tuesday after receiving a call about a pavement failure in the right two lanes of the bridge, according to WSDOT NW region assistant communication manager James Poling said.

Drivers heading into Seattle experienced major slowdowns. Video from WSDOT cameras showed long backups and heavy traffic volumes.

©2022 Cox Media Group