Seattle, Washington: All Northbound I-5 Lanes on the Ship Canal Bridge Could Reopen by November 2

Seattle drivers could get all four northbound lanes of Interstate 5 back across the Ship Canal Bridge as early as Monday, November 2. The change would end a lane squeeze that has shaped commutes through the city for most of 2026.

Nearly ten months of two-lane traffic

The Washington State Department of Transportation said on October 21 that a major milestone is approaching for its Revive I-5 Ship Canal Bridge Preservation project. After nearly 10 months of construction and long-term lane reductions, the department is preparing to restore northbound I-5 across the bridge to its normal lane configuration. The northbound side has run at two lanes instead of four through the 2026 work season, while crews repaired the bridge deck and improved its drainage, work meant to address problems that have forced repeated emergency repairs in recent years.

The bridge is more than 60 years old and carries nearly a quarter of a million people a day, according to WSDOT figures reported by the Seattle Focal. The preservation project is priced at 178 million dollars, the Focal reported.

One more full closure first

Getting the lanes back takes one more hard weekend. Removing the work zone requires a weekend-long full closure of northbound I-5 from Interstate 90 to Northeast 45th Street, as early as the weekend of Friday, October 30 to Monday, November 2. During the closure, crews will reconfigure the lanes, pick up the pinned barriers and restripe the lanes and shoulders. Once the work zone is removed, the I-5 express lanes return to normal operations, and major scheduled Revive I-5 closures conclude for the year.

The weather decides

The schedule stays weather dependent. The remaining work, and the removal of the work zone itself, require dry conditions. If the weather does not cooperate that weekend, the long-term lane reductions stay in place until crews find a suitable weekend, WSDOT said.

Even after the reopening, drivers should expect some overnight closures of I-5, lane reductions and early closures of the express lanes, as crews continue bridge maintenance and drainage work on the underside of the bridge. Crews return to the Ship Canal Bridge in 2027 to work in the southbound lanes.

The milestone also comes earlier than drivers were told to expect. The long-term lane closures were slated to last for the entire year, KOMO News reported, and WSDOT credits the dry fall weather for putting the work ahead of schedule. The department says it will provide advance notice of the overnight closures still to come, and drivers who cross between Interstate 90 and Northeast 45th Street should plan around the closure weekend once its hours are set.