The Washington State Department of Transportation will begin a $2.5 million road project that will give drivers some smoother pavement to travel upon in the North Bend area.
WSDOT said in mid-June it will begin repaving both directions of I-90 between the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River (around
exit 32) and SR 202 at exit 31.
According to WSDOT, this mile and a half section of I-90 is very busy as a critical east-west connection route for freight, along with more than 40,000 vehicles using it each day.
WSDOT said the last time the area was repaved was almost 25 years ago, and the pavement in the right lane is especially worn due to the truck traffic that uses it each day. The pavement is deteriorating, with cracks, potholes and ruts and unless the highway is repaved, it will continue to deteriorate and break down.
Most Work at Night
But don’t fret daytime drivers. The most of the work happens during the nighttime hours Monday through Thursday when crews will remove the top two inches of existing roadway and repave it with new asphalt. They will also replace five concrete roadway panels and repair the concrete surrounding the expansion joints of I-90 across the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River.
What Drivers Should Expect
But… if you are driving at night, WSDOT warns that I-90 could be down to just one lane in each direction, which could cause significant travel delays. There will also be occasional overnight closures of the SR 202 on-ramp to eastbound I-90 and the westbound I-90 exit to SR 202 (exit 31).
As for daytime hours, WSDOT says drivers should expect a continuous single lane closure from Sunday nights to Friday afternoons during the project.
The project will be completely finished in Fall 2016 according to the WSDOT project page – and this section of I-90 will not need to be paved again for approximately 15 years.
