Date:  Friday, September 11, 2009

Contact: Patty Michaud, WSDOT communications, 206-716-1133

Drivers can plan ahead by checking WSDOT Twitter, TV, radio

SEATTLE – It’s going to be a busy weekend in Seattle. Three football games, daytime and nighttime lane closures on I-5 and traffic camera outages mean that drivers will need to plan ahead and get creative before they hit the highways.

Even though many Seattle traffic cameras will be out of service for upgrades, drivers can find traffic information on local TV and radio stations, and on overhead travel time signs. Drivers can find traffic conditions online on the WSDOT What’s Happening Now page, WSDOT incident page, WSDOT travel alerts page and the WSDOT traffic Twitter site.

Crews will take advantage of the good weather this weekend, and avoid affecting commuters during the work week, to lay the groundwork for a new active traffic management system scheduled to be installed this winter. This new active traffic management system will include a series of electronic speed-limit and lane-status signs over each northbound lane on I-5 between Boeing Access Road and I-90 in Seattle. The new signs, scheduled to be activated next spring, are the latest smarter highway technology aimed at increasing safety and reducing collisions.

For more information on this project please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I5/activetrafficmanagement/

Here’s a breakdown of the construction work and events planned for Sept. 11 through Sept. 13:

Traffic camera and flow map outage
Starting at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 11, crews will cut access to 25 miles of traffic cameras and five miles of flow maps in the Seattle area as they upgrade fiber-optic cables.

Traffic cameras that will be offline include:
• I-5 between Spokane Street and the King/Pierce County line
• SR 18 between I-5 and SR 164; SR 99 near the First Avenue Bridge
• All cameras on SR 599, SR 518, SR 167, and SR 161.

Additionally, five miles of the color-coded traffic flow map between State Route 900 (Martin Luther King Junior Way S.) and Spokane Street will also be unavailable.

Cameras and flow maps on I-90, SR 520, I-405 and the HOT lane system on SR 167 will not be affected by this work.

Downtown Seattle lane closures
Crews will close lanes at night and in the morning on northbound I-5 between Interurban Ave. and the W. Seattle Freeway. These lane closures complement work being done to upgrade fiberoptic equipment for WSDOT traffic camera. Crews will be testing traffic camera locations and splicing fiberoptic lines.

Closures will vary in length and time, but drivers should plan for short delays on northbound I-5 south of Seattle from Friday night to Sunday morning:

• Friday, Sept. 11 – Saturday, Sept. 12 - Crews will close the HOV lane just north of the West Seattle Freeway from 8 p.m. Friday to 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
• Saturday morning, Sept. 12 – Crews will close the HOV or right lane between Interurban Avenue and Corson Avenue from 4 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Crews will also close the HOV or right lane from Corson Avenue to just north of the West Seattle Freeway from 4 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 12 – Sunday, Sept. 13 – Crews will close the HOV lane at S. Albro Place from 7 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday. Crews will also close the HOV lane just north of the West Seattle Freeway from 7 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday.
• Sunday morning, Sept. 13 - Crews will close the HOV or right lane between Interurban Avenue and Corson Avenue from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m. Crews will also close the HOV or right lane from Corson Avenue to just north of the W. Seattle Freeway from 4 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The ramp from northbound I-5 to 4th Avenue S. will close for 15 minutes sometime between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.

WSU, UW and Seahawks football
In addition to the camera outages and lane closures, three big football games scheduled in Seattle this weekend mean drivers will need to plan ahead for extra traffic.

Times to know:
• The UW Husky game starts at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, at Husky Stadium
• The WSU Cougar Gridiron Classic is at 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12, at Qwest Field
• The Seahawks regular-season opener is at 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13, at Qwest Field.

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