Sections of I-5 in area need replacing

By Natalie Singer
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

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Every day, with the turn of every wheel and the jolt of every truck, the stretch of I-5 through the Puget Sound region gets one step closer to breakdown.

One-quarter of the freeway from South Seattle to the Snohomish County border needs to be replaced — not just repaved, but fully rebuilt — within the next three years.

An additional 45 percent will need to be rebuilt within a few years after that, according to a 2001 study by the state Department of Transportation (DOT). The rest of the road, 30 percent, is already past due and needs either rehabilitation or reconstruction.

"This is not a 21st century facility," said Mike Cummings, manager of urban planning for DOT. "From the signing to the pavement to the ramps, it could be far more efficient."

The region's main artery since it opened in 1967, I-5 is in crisis: The pavement is rutted and pockmarked from billions of tires, especially studded ones. There's movement between the panel joints. Water collects in the holes, wearing away the concrete and causing cracks. The deterioration poses safety risks for drivers and causes wear and tear to vehicles.

Outdated designs and left-hand exit ramps contribute to the problems, especially through Seattle's core, where there are only two through-lanes. In 2003, 286,000 vehicles a day drove I-5 at the Ship Canal Bridge — 27,000 more per day than in 1988.

Traffic growth in Snohomish County was even greater.

The problem with fixing I-5, of course, is lack of money. To replace 18 miles of the freeway through Seattle — the most traveled corridor in the state — could cost $2 billion or more, according to past DOT estimates.

And as demands on I-5 multiply, the region's alternative and the state's second most-traveled corridor — Interstate 405 — is also becoming obsolete. The Eastside freeway is congested up to 12 hours a day in Renton and more than six hours a day in Bellevue, and planners are struggling to find the billions it will cost for widening.

A new $10.3 million study in the works aims to give engineers and state lawmakers a better idea of what it would take, financially and strategically, to fix I-5's worst spots from Tukwila to Northgate.
 
In addition to funding that study, the state Legislature last year approved $134 million for a first round of focused improvements, primarily repaving.

But even if I-5 were completely rebuilt, there would still be the question of capacity: As population growth continues, won't we need more lanes?

Some think yes.

"Nine percent of all congestion in Washington state is on the section of I-5 through Seattle," said state Sen. Jim Horn, R-Mercer Island. He thinks double-decking the freeway or building a bypass could be the answer.

If the problem isn't solved, Horn said, it could have grave economic implications. "Canada is our No. 1 trading partner, Mexico is our No. 2 trading partner," he said. "This no doubt impacts that."

An ongoing study is also examining the feasibility of a new north-south freeway east of I-405, called a "Commerce Corridor."

It's being peddled as an eight-lane expressway stretching from Lewis County to the Canadian border, paid for partly by the private sector. It could include truck lanes, toll lanes for cars, freight and passenger-rail lines and utility transmission lines and pipelines.

That state-sponsored study is due out by the end of this year.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com