Puget Sound drivers brace for another weekend of heavy traffic during construction

[00:00:00]And some good weather around here this weekend is good news for road crews working on several different construction projects. Unfortunately for you, that could mean long traffic backups depending on where you need to go. KOMO's Joel Moreno is live in the KOMO Traffic Tracker tonight with what drivers can expect. Joel.

[00:00:19]>> Molly well, for people who plan to hit the roads around Seattle this weekend, they might want to hit the brakes on their expectations for easy travel. I'll give you a look here what we're seeing right outside the traffic tracker.

[00:00:32]Now, we are heading across the floating bridge as you can clearly see heading towards the mountains. Late tonight, this stretch of I-90 that we are traveling on, it will close and it will stay that way until tomorrow morning. I want to give you another look. This is a view from our remote camera looking over at Lake Washington. Now, with all that said, westbound travel that will still be possible. But beyond just this, there is a perfect storm of highway closures ready to collide with the weekend.

[00:01:05]For those who plan to drive around the Seattle region, this isn't just another construction weekend. It's a traffic squeeze play that's becoming all too common.

[00:01:13]>> I just don't drive around that much.

[00:01:16]When I'm going on I-5, the Ship Canal Bridge, it's really a bear.

[00:01:21]Two lanes are closed.

[00:01:22]>> Sure, the Revive I-5 road work across the Ship Canal Bridge is back taking away two critical lanes in the northbound direction, but it doesn't stop there.

[00:01:31]>> I think there's always traffic. That's just how Seattle is, period.

[00:01:34]>> New this weekend is the Montlake Boulevard closure stretching between Hamlin and East Louisa Streets until Monday. That is sure to create spillover effects on SR 520.

[00:01:45]>> It's like a parking lot or it's like a pothole central. So, it's one or the other and it's not just the highways, it's also the back roads now.

[00:01:53]>> Perhaps worse is when eastbound I-90 closes between Seattle and Mercer Island for tunnel maintenance. The result could be a domino effect as drivers dodge one backup only to hit another.

[00:02:05]>> All these projects at once, it's not okay. Like, you just can't go anywhere. And you really want to on the weekend like you finally have like time off to do stuff with your family and it's like taking extra time.

[00:02:15]>> State transportation officials say the backups likely won't stay in the work zones and could spill across Seattle and the Eastside. That could turn shortcuts into just more slow lanes.

[00:02:26]>> It's pretty difficult at times. So, it's it's a bear like I said.

[00:02:29]>> So, people have learned how to take the access roads and those are congested.

[00:02:33]So, it's adding 20 to 30 40 minutes to commute drives. I'm not for that.

[00:02:41]>> Uh back here live. This is right at the end of the planned closure that's going to be taking place. Uh now, I want to tell you that while we continue on this Issaquah will also see two lanes taken away in the westbound direction of the Interstate of I-90. And all that starts at 8:00 p.m. Just a couple of hours from now.

[00:03:04]And that will stay in place until Sunday. Reporting live, Joel Moreno, KOMO News.

[00:03:09]>> Joel, thank you.