The Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) project to conduct major preservation and repairs on the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge continues into 2026. Over the next year, expect months-long northbound lane reductions and a few weekends with a complete shutdown of the northbound I-5 lanes in Seattle.
The Seattle Transit Blog encourages you to take transit, walk, or bike to wherever you need to go. Sound Transit’s Link 1 Line travels roughly parallel to I-5 between Lynnwood and Federal Way. The 1 Line has thousands of free parking spots in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Shoreline, and Northgate. Additionally, King County Metro runs a plethora of bus routes across the Ship Canal. These routes include:
Montlake Bridge: 43, 48, 255, 271, ST 542, ST 556
University Bridge: 49, 70
I-5 Ship Canal Bridge: 303, 322, ST 510, ST 515, ST 586
Aurora Bridge: 5, 28, E Line
Fremont Bridge: 31, 32, 40, 62
Ballard Bridge: 17, D Line
The schedules and maps for these routes can be found here. Metro will be running extra buses as needed to minimize travel delays. Metro told Seattle Transit Blog that on weekdays, it will likely add extra service on routes 40, 62, 101, 255, D Line, E Line, and ST 545. On weekends, extra service will likely be added to routes 40, 62, 101, D Line, E Line, and ST 545. Metro confirmed that it will add additional buses to other routes as needed.
January 9 – 12 [Full Northbound Closure]
Northbound I-5 will be closed through downtown Seattle this weekend from 11:59pm Friday night until 5am Monday morning. The express lanes will remain open for northbound traffic. To prepare for the closure, several on-ramps to northbound I-5 will close as early as 9:00pm Friday. Dearborn Street, Cherry Street, University Street on-ramps will close at 9:00pm. Westbound I-90, Olive Way, and Mercer Street on-ramps will close at 10:00pm. Eastbound I-90, Harvard Avenue East, and Westbound SR 520 on-ramps will close at 11:00pm. The northbound off-ramps between Seneca Street and NE 50th St will close at 11:59pm.
As a reminder, the 1 Line will be using shuttle buses between Capitol Hill station and SODO station during the late night and mornings this weekend. The shuttle buses will run:
- From 10:00pm on Friday, Jan. 9, until noon on Saturday, Jan. 10
- From 10:00pm on Saturday, Jan. 10, until noon on Sunday, Jan. 11
