We’ll return northbound Interstate 5 to its usual three-lane configuration Friday, Feb. 20, just south of State Route 532 (milepost 212) after installation of a new fish passable structure. The switch from a two-lane bypass road will occur during a series of rolling slowdowns beginning Thursday night, Feb. 19, near Stanwood.

Starting at 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, contractor crews will begin shifting northbound traffic from a bypass road back onto the mainline. People traveling through the area should expect rolling slowdowns as traffic is shifted. Provided the weather cooperates, we expect to have all three northbound lanes open by noon Friday, Feb. 20.

Southbound I-5 will continue to use its two-lane bypass road through March.

Removing barriers

Returning northbound I-5 to three lanes represents a significant milestone for the  I-5/Secret Creek Fish Passage, which is removing three barriers to fish passage along Secret Creek and replacing them with structures that fish can swim through.

For the new culvert under northbound I-5, crews excavated more than 30,000 cubic yards of material and installed a culvert that is 65 feet long and 70 feet in diameter. They also built an 11,000 square foot reinforced wall.

We expect to finish a culvert beneath southbound I-5 later this spring. After the I-5 culverts are complete, crews will replace the culvert beneath Pacific Highway immediately west of I-5. They’ll also rehabilitate about 2,000 feet of the Secret Creek stream bed throughout the project area. The three culverts will provide a potential habitat gain of nearly 5 miles for salmon and steelhead along Secret Creek.

We finished emergency repairs Saturday, Feb. 14, on a section of State Route 20 about 6 miles north of Marblemount in Skagit County and reopened this section of highway to eastbound and westbound traffic for the first time in nearly two months.

Flooding in December damaged a culvert and the highway at Bacon Creek (milepost 112), forcing us to limit traffic to essential trips alternating through a single lane. In the past month, crews replaced the damaged culvert and rebuilt the roadbed. We then paved and installed lane striping and guardrail, allowing us to reopen SR 20.

Though the road is now open between Marblemount and Newhalem, the annual winter closure of SR 20 remains between Ross Dam trailhead (milepost 134) and Early Winters (milepost 178). Winter recreationists traditionally use this area during the annual closure of North Cascades Highway, but there are multiple damaged areas beyond the gates that require repair. People are encouraged to avoid accessing this area until safe roadway conditions are re-established.

Moving west

Our contractor has since shifted about 25 miles west to repair more damage from December’s flooding between Challenger and Dallas roads (milepost 87). Over the next several days, we’ll re-grade drainage channels that were filled with debris and remove a damaged culvert.

Though most of the work will be off the highway, watch for single-lane alternating traffic along SR 20 just west of Concrete when crews are working over the next several days.

We often have special events and roadwork taking place in the Northend, including construction projects, maintenance and repairs. We always try to minimize any effects to travel, but sometimes it is necessary to close a lane to do the work or create a safe work zone for our crews.

If you spot our crews, slow down and give them space to work! A huge thanks to our crews for all their hard work. 

Want more information? Visit our real time travel center, where these projects and repairs can be found on our travel map, and download our app to receive alerts directly to your smartphone.