 Jan. 2, 2026
 Contractor crews for WSDOT repair areas of US 2 damaged by flood waters.
US 2 Stevens Pass between Skykomish (milepost 50), and Stevens Pass (milepost 64), re-opened on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, ahead of schedule.
A pilot car will remain in place for a 5-mile stretch east of the summit, between milepost 66 and 71, from 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily. US 2 Stevens Pass should not be used for cross-state travel. Alternate east-west routes include I-90 Snoqualmie Pass, US 97 Blewett Pass, and State Route 28 through Quincy.
Over the past several days, crews in Skykomish benefited from unseasonably good weather allowing emergency contractors and crews to finish clearing debris and complete repairs at two washouts at milepost 54 just east of town.
Tumwater Canyon along US 2 remains closed from east of Coles Corner (milepost 85) to Leavenworth (milepost 99), where repairs started Dec. 23. The detour is Chumstick Highway, a rural county road with lower speeds and bridge restrictions. Drivers should expect longer travel times on the Chumstick Highway detour.
WSDOT asks travelers to follow all signage and the pilot car operations. Access over US 2 Stevens Pass is still subject to conditions, and drivers must be prepared for winter travel. The pass may close on short notice due to spins outs, or collisions and avalanche control activities. People should check the real time travel map for current travel conditions.
We’ve been talking about it for the past couple of years; as the calendar turns to 2026 it’s finally here. As soon as Friday, Jan. 9, we will begin our months-long lane reductions on northbound I-5 to repair and repave the Ship Canal Bridge.
The work will begin with a full closure of northbound I-5 from 11:59 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, until 5 a.m. Monday, Jan. 12. Northbound freeway drivers going to downtown Seattle will need to use exits to Edgar Martinez Drive, Dearborn, James or Madison streets. The express lanes will be open northbound-only 24 hours a day for people going north of downtown. There are no exits from the express lanes to downtown Seattle.
Setting up the work zone requires a full closure of more than 50 hours, so it must be done during a weekend. Our contractor crews will set concrete barrier to create a safe work zone for the people who will rehabilitate the bridge and restripe the two right lanes. The work is weather-dependent and could be postponed for a week if conditions are too rainy.
When the mainline northbound freeway reopens Monday, Jan.12, it will be reduced to the two right lanes until June. Full details of the closure are available on our website.
Express lanes
Throughout the northbound closures and lane reductions, the express lanes will run northbound-only, 24 hours a day for Revive I-5. People traveling on I-5 to or through Seattle may experience traffic delays as the express lanes will not be switching to southbound like they typically do in the morning hours. Keeping express lanes northbound-only allows WSDOT to balance the system during this work.
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The SR 9 Marsh Road to 2nd Street Vic widening and bridge painting project is expected to resume early January 2026, once flood waters recede and the ground is stable for equipment to be brought back to the work zone.
When resumed, this project will:
- Widen State Route 9 between Marsh Road and 2nd Street near the city of Snohomish.
- Build a new bridge for southbound traffic directly to the west of the existing bridge.
- Rebuild the on-ramp from 2nd Street to southbound SR 9 so that it becomes its own lane, eliminating the need to merge into traffic.
- Restore and repaint the existing SR 9 Snohomish River bridge.
- Rebuild the overflow bridge, south of the existing SR 9 Snohomish River bridge.
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