Leaves are changing colors and lanes stripes are changing back from orange to white on Interstate 5! In case you need a refresher, back in February, crews began building the inside portions of the new I-5 Hylebos Creek bridges at the Fife curve. As part of this work, our team installed a median work zone within the inner lanes of I-5, shifting traffic to the right. In addition, the team installed orange lane markings through the work zone , and set a regulatory speed limit of 50 mph.
These orange stripes were a pilot project WSDOT conducted in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), testing whether high contrast lane stripes are an effective highway work zone safety strategy. Information gathered during the pilot project will be processed and analyzed over the next several months and submitted to the FHWA in 2024. Following the FHWA’s review, WSDOT will share the results publicly.
Now that crews have finished the inner portions of the new bridges, they will move their work zone to complete the exterior. In December (weather permitting), construction crews will shift northbound and southbound I-5 lanes toward the median and onto the new bridges, removing the orange lane markings as they go. This shift will help create room for the construction team’s new work zone on the outer lanes of I-5. We’ll share more information about what community members can expect during this shift later this year.
