Just a heads up to drivers …
Construction crews will be paring down a stretch of Interstate 90 to a single lane in both directions this week.
The work, scheduled to run today through Friday, impacts I-90 between Easton and Cle Elum. Crews will be finish replacing deteriorating sections of the roadway and the shoulders in both directions.
DOT advises drivers to plan a little extra time for their trips on I-90.
UPDATED at 6:10 a.m.
The area’s wet roads froze up overnight, leaving patches of black ice that are causing problems this morning.
State Department of Transportation crews have been working overnight to treat the icy roadways.
Commuters are asked to drive carefully and for the conditions.
“Plan for extra time this morning, and take it slow,” the state Department of Transportation tweeted. “Low temps and wet roads=ice.”
Several crashes have been reported already this morning.
A pickup truck hit a barrier on eastbound state Route 16 on the Narrows Bridge. (It has since been cleared.) Another crash was blocking one …
Drivers commuting through the South Sound on Interstate 5 will soon have new tools to help them when traffic bogs down.
The state Department of Transportation has installed seven new traffic cameras between Nisqually and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Drivers will be able to look at the cameras before they hit the road to see what the 11-mile stretch between Lacey and Lakewood looks like.
The cameras are located at Marvin Road, Mounts Road, Center Drive, DuPont/Steilacoom Road, just north of DuPont and near the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Main Gate.
The transportation agency also has installed three new ramp meters …
Crews will close all of the electronic toll lanes across the Narrows Bridge for two nights this week so upgraded readers can be installed.
The lanes will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, from 8 p.m. each night to 4 a.m. the next morning. All vehicles will be detoured through the toll booths during the closures, the state DOT reports.
The upgrade will allow the readers to read the new and old Good to Go passes, DOT reports.
The on-ramp from 24th Street Northwest to eastbound state Route 16 in Gig Harbor will stay open during the closures.
Tacoma drivers may be noticing a series of public-service advertisements around town, urging them to exercise care around bicycles and pedestrians.
The “Drive Nice, Tacoma” safety campaign is placing the yellow-and-black caution-style signs on Pierce Transit buses and shelters and the Link trolley. One sign shows a human outline being bumped by a car, with the slogan “Pedestrians are not hood ornaments.”
Another shows a auto-bicycle collision (the rider loses), under the admonishment “Don’t disappoint your driver’s ed teacher.”
“We wanted a campaign that would make people stop and think, so we used very clear and recognizable …
From The Associated Press:
With about 60,000 football fans headed to the UCLA-Washington game in rush hour Thursday, more Seattle drivers are thinking gridlock than gridiron.
The usual backups in the University District, on I-5 and Highway 520 could extend and slow travel on I-405 and I-90.
The University of Washington asked students and faculty not to drive Thursday to campus to help reduce congestion. The UW chartered 340 buses to shuttle about 20,000 fans from parking lots around the Seattle area.
State Route 410 over Chinook Pass is temporarily closed because of heavy snowfall and an increased avalanche danger.
The highway is closed from near Morse Creek to near Crystal Mountain Boulevard, the state DOT reported just after noon today.
DOT is not estimating what the highway will reopen.
The left lane of northbound and southbound Interstate 5 from Nisqually to DuPont is closed today as DOT crews remove brush.
The closure began at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to last until 1 p.m.