Date:  Monday, December 07, 2009

Contact: Meghan Soptich Pembroke, WSDOT Communications, 206-440-4704 (Seattle)
John Chi, WSDOT Project Engineer, 425-489-5402 (Bothell)

SEATAC – Drivers have a new tool to help them avoid traffic backups on I-5. Three new electronic travel-time signs are up and running on northbound I-5 south of the I-405 interchange and on southbound I-5 in Mill Creek. The signs provide real-time travel time information that helps drivers choose the fastest route to the Eastside.

This $800,000 project is an element of WSDOT’s congestion relief program, Moving Washington, and will help keep drivers informed about backups and help manage traffic during SR 99’s Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement.

“We’re giving drivers the tools to make better decisions about their trips,” said John Chi, WSDOT project engineer. “Real-time travel information helps drivers adapt to changing conditions on the road. That makes the entire highway operate more efficiently.”

Crews installed two new travel time signs on northbound I-5 at the South 216th Street overpass near SeaTac and just south of the I-405 interchange in Tukwila. They installed a third sign on southbound I-5 near SR 96 in Mill Creek.

Crews began installing the signs this spring and completed testing this week. For more information about this project, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/I5/AWVTravelTimeSigns/default.htm

For more information about Moving Washington and the Alaskan Way Viaduct Program, please visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/movingwashington/ and http://www.alaskanwayviaduct.org/.

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