Traffic managers have decided to cancel most I-5 expansion-joint repairs this weekend in Sodo to avoid a double whammy with Saturday’s full closure of I-405 in south Bellevue.

Crews repairing southbound I-5 in Seattle will limit their work to just the Columbian Way/West Seattle Bridge offramp from late Friday until early Sunday, while leaving the mainline open, the Washington State Department of Transportation said in an update Thursday. The original WSDOT schedule was to close three right-side lanes from downtown to north Beacon Hill.

In addition, even the 800-foot offramp will reopen early at 6 a.m. Sunday, so drivers can conveniently reach the high-rise West Seattle Bridge, which reopens sometime Sunday following a 2½-year closure for emergency repairs.

If WSDOT had kept to its original work plan, only two lanes of traffic would have been able to pass through Sodo, which can cause a 2- or 3-mile traffic jam on normal weekends. This weekend the traffic pressure is worse, because all lanes of I-405 will close Saturday while crews excavate and replace a broken culvert beneath the roadway just south of I-90.

Ongoing joint and pavement repairs in Sodo will continue until at least the second week of October, said spokesperson Tom Pearce. Talks are underway to learn whether contractors can accomplish more I-5 work during overnight shifts, or if further weekend lane closures are needed as a consequence of keeping the mainline open this weekend, he said.

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