Date: Friday, October 05, 2012
Contact: Meagan McFadden, WSDOT communications, 509-577-1618 (Yakima)
Mike Westbay, WSDOT communications, 509-728-4712 (Yakima)
Drivers need to plan for added travel time to avoid major delays
HYAK – Drivers could face major delays when crews reduce Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass to one lane in each direction. Crews will close one lane in each direction of the highway for six days, starting Oct. 14, as they prepare to open a brand new section of highway.
The Washington State Department of Transportation and contractor crews will reduce I-90 from a four-lane highway to a two-lane highway from 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, to 7 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19, to pave transitions between the old and new westbound and eastbound lanes.
“It’s going to be really important for drivers to listen to us when we say ‘plan for added travel time,’” said Will Smith, WSDOT project engineer. “This closure is going to be inconvenient and we all need to work together in order to get through it. Good things are worth waiting for, and this is definitely a good thing.”
When WSDOT reopens the lanes Oct. 19, the 27,000 drivers who travel over the pass every day will have a brand new section of roadway from mileposts 54 to 57.
Drivers can use online travel graphs (pdf) to decide the best time to travel over I-90 the week of Oct. 14 near Hyak. Collisions or other slowdowns in the work zone will cause longer delays. Drivers need to plan ahead and give themselves plenty of time to get to their destination.
The six-day closure is part of the $551 million I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East – Hyak to Keechelus Dam project that’s widening a five-mile stretch of the highway from four to six lanes and improving reliability and safety. The project is scheduled to be complete in fall 2017.
A number of traveler information tools are available to help drivers plan ahead and avoid delays before, during and after the closure:
- Visit the Snoqualmie Mountain Pass Web page to view the traffic-flow map for real-time travel information.
- Check the What’s Happening on I-90 Web page or Traffic Web page for region-wide updates.
- Tune into the Highway Advisory Radio at 1610 AM and 530 AM.
- Follow WSDOT on Twitter @SnoqualmiePass.
- Call the I-90 construction hotline at 888-535-0738 or 511.
