 Feb. 26, 2026
 Crews finished drainage repairs and removed a culvert along SR 20 near Concrete earlier this week. Below, emergency repairs along SR 542, including rebuilding an eroded embankment and repairing pavement, finished earlier this month. Crews have completed six emergency repair projects along state highways in Whatcom and Skagit counties after flooding in December.
It’s not been more than two months since Christmas, and December’s flooding seems like a distant memory for many. But it has taken that long to repair the damage the atmospheric river weather event wrecked on our highway system in Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Earlier this week, we wrapped up repairs on State Route 20 just west of Concrete near Challenger Road (milepost 87). Crews regraded drainage channels that were filled with debris and removed a culvert damaged during the heavy rain.
That marked the last of six emergency repair projects we had on open state highways in Whatcom and Skagit counties after December’s flooding – two on SR 20, three on SR 542 and one on SR 530.
During that time, our contractor crews have done amazing work, repairing and replacing damaged culverts, rechanneling washed out drainage areas, rebuilding eroded embankments, and restoring washed out pavement and guardrails so we could reopen highways. We appreciate all their hard work and teamwork, as well as the patience and support we’ve seen from communities that depend on these highways.
More to go
Though all open roads have been restored, we still have more repairs to make on SR 20 beyond the annual westside closure at Ross Dam trailhead (milepost 134). There are multiple damaged areas beyond the gates that require repair. We plan to tackle these once the snow melts.
Winter recreationists traditionally use this area during the annual closure of North Cascades Highway, but people are encouraged to avoid accessing the closure area until safe roadway conditions are re-established.
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If you're traveling on Interstate 5 in northern Snohomish County next week, expect daily lane reductions from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, March 2-5, as we perform routine inspections.
Bridge crews will take a single lane over the northbound I-5 bridge Monday and Tuesday, March 2-3, then shift to the southbound I-5 bridge on Wednesday and Thursday, March 4-5. Plan ahead and expect delays.
 A group of Skagit Valley College fish ecology students recently visited our I-5 Secret Creek Fish Passage project work site.
It’s easy to think of us as one of the state’s largest developers – we do design, build and maintain highways and bridges that help keep people and commerce moving, after all. But there’s also a large environmental component to our work. Look no further than our fish passage program to see that we’re a leading agency for habitat restoration and design.
We recently got a chance to show off this side of our work to about a dozen Skagit Valley College students in a fish ecology class. The students met with a group of our engineers and environmental specialists to discuss our fish passage program. They spent about 40 minutes in our office talking about what makes a barrier to fish migration and the work that we are doing to remove these barriers and restore habitat. We also discussed the details of a 2013 federal court injunction requiring the state to correct barrier culverts to salmon and steelhead within the injunction area in western Washington.
Then we took them out into the field to visit the location of our I-5 Secret Creek Fish Passage project, where contractor crews are actively replacing three barriers with fish passable culverts near Stanwood.
We hope the students enjoyed their visit as much as we did, and maybe – just maybe – one or more of these future ecology specialists will consider joining our team to help us continue this important work.
SR 9 will remain closed between SR 20 and West State Street/Trail Road (milepost 55) in Sedro-Woolley until repairs are made to a rail crossing signal box damaged in a crash Nov. 1.
The signals box, which facilitates safe operations of the railroad crossing, is owned by BNSF Railway. It was damaged beyond repair. We also own equipment that must be replaced and are coordinating this effort with BNSF. Crews made temporary adjustments to signal timing on SR 20 while the intersection is closed.
There is no estimate for the roadway to reopen, but you can use West State Street/Trail Road as a short detour around this closure.
Whatcom County
Interstate 5
- The left lane of southbound I-5 will close near Portal Way (milepost 264) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, for maintenance.
State Route 9
- Northbound and southbound traffic will alternate from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily Monday, March 2, through Thursday, March 5, from Hudson Road (milepost 72) to Nelson Road (milepost 76) for utility work.
Skagit County
State Route 9
- Northbound and southbound traffic will alternate from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly Friday, Feb. 27, through Sunday morning, March 1, and Monday night, March 2, through Sunday morning, March 8, near Mount Vernon Big Lake Road (milepost 49) for utility work.
State Route 530
- Eastbound and westbound traffic will alternate from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, and Monday, March 2, through Friday, March 6, from south of Fortner Road (milepost 53) to Christian Camp Road (milepost 55) for utility work.
Island County
State Route 525
- Northbound and southbound traffic will alternate from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily Monday, March 2, through Thursday, March 5, near Aqua View Lane (milepost 24) for utility work.
Northern Snohomish County
Interstate 5
- Northbound I-5 will continue to use a two-lane bypass road around the clock south of the SR 532 exit (milepost 112) for fish passage installation.
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.
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David Rasbach
WSDOT communications
david.rasbach@wsdot.wa.gov
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