WSDOT: First I-5 closure a success, lanes reopened | Transportation

The southbound lanes of I-5 are back open as of this morning.

WSDOT says the first of three weekend closures - to install several steel ridge girders over I-5 - went off without any problems. 

Crews spent Friday and Saturday nights moving the girders over the southbound lanes of I-5. They were placed onto columns that will support two new flyover ramps in the future.

"Closing one direction of a freeway is never easy," said Aleta Borschowa, WSDOT project engineer, in a press release."But it will be worth it when the work is done and drivers move much more smoothly through this busy interchange."

Next weekend, crews will work on the other side of the freeway, closing northbound I-5 lanes while they install two more girders.