Traveling I-5 north/south between Seattle & Vancouver

[Tweedy]

Tonight, there has been an I-5 bridge collapse between Seattle & Vancouver. Those of you traveling by car either north or south to catch your cruise will find lengthy delays in the Mt Vernon & Burlington area.

 

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Report-I-5-bridge-collapses-over-Skagit-River-cars-in-water-208758631.html

 

Just thought I would share this information with all the fellow cruisers.

[zephyr17]

The collapse of the Skagit River bridge is severe. It looks to me like it will have to be completely rebuilt, partly because the still standing spans are of the same construction as the collapsed one. I think it is almost certain that it will be out of service at least all summer. They'll have to detour I-5 traffic over local roads, so those of you planning to take the bus or rent a car between Vancouver and Seattle should allow for significant increased travel time, or consider other alternatives.

 

The BNSF bridge Amtrak uses isn't very close to the I-5 bridge and isn't affected, so Amtrak service should not be impacted.

 

On the bright side, though some cars did go in the water, there are no reports of fatalities thus far.

[Putterdude]

While I guess we will have to wait and see how things work out but here is a fairly good detour route to the east of I-5 however, I would guess that it is going to add 30 to 60 minutes to travel time depending on time of day and travel volumes.

[Casagordita]

If you were planning to go by bus or car this summer between Seattle and Vancouver BC , I would strongly recommend that you consider other options. Amtrak is not affected by this bridge collapse--they use a different one. And since there are very limited road alternatives until the I-5 bridge is replaced, Amtrak is going to be very busy on that route!

[Blizzard54]

It now looks like there is at least one fatality and divers are now going into the water.

[Kenswing]

If you were planning to go by bus or car this summer between Seattle and Vancouver BC , I would strongly recommend that you consider other options. Amtrak is not affected by this bridge collapse--they use a different one. And since there are very limited road alternatives until the I-5 bridge is replaced, Amtrak is going to be very busy on that route!

I wouldn't be surprised if Amtrak added trains or maybe even run the Sounder trains farther north on a short term basis..

[zephyr17]

It now looks like there is at least one fatality and divers are now going into the water.

 

Damn, sorry to hear that. I was hoping no one lost their their life.

 

As to rail service, Sounder might be able to, assuming BNSF would cooperate, but Amtrak doesn't have enough equipment to do it, at least equipment already in place in Seattle.

[Kenswing]

With 77,000 vehicles going over this bridge daily I'm sure come tomorrow the news will get worse. Especially since this is the beginning of a holiday weekend..

[Gardyloo]

With 77,000 vehicles going over this bridge daily I'm sure come tomorrow the news will get worse. Especially since this is the beginning of a holiday weekend..

There are also many hundreds (thousands?) of heavy truck crossings of the river daily, mainly containers traveling between Vancouver and Seattle/Tacoma ports. I would not be a bit surprised if this impacts shipping and harbor operations throughout the region.

[Kenswing]

There are also many hundreds (thousands?) of heavy truck crossings of the river daily, mainly containers traveling between Vancouver and Seattle/Tacoma ports. I would not be a bit surprised if this impacts shipping and harbor operations throughout the region.

I agree.. Major impact on commerce..

[Tweedy]

I briefly flipped channels to get an update and the announcers said that the bridge will likely be out until the end of summer. Major impact to all those in the immediate area, traveling this corridor and those who flew into Seattle for Vancouver Alaska sailings.

 

If you do still plan to travel by car, there are alternate routes around this area but like Putterdue said, you will be adding time onto the travel commute.

[Kenswing]

I wonder if taking Hwy-9 and crossing at Sumas would gain you anything..

[zephyr17]

Probably. 9 is significantly east of 5 so people who take it will have made a positive decision instead of just following a detour, and Sumas is usually better than Peace Arch or the Truck Crossing under normal circumstances. But with that said, many locals and truckers who are aware of alternate routes may take it and it is mostly a 2 lane road past Snohomish.

 

I do think anyone planning to do any kind of highway based (rental or bus) plans to go between Vancouver and Seattle should consider alternates. Flying direct to YVR, Amtrak, fly SEA-YVR.

 

The good news is they are now reporting no fatalities again.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting this.

 

Keith

[WarumistdieBananekrumm]

It now looks like there is at least one fatality and divers are now going into the water.

 

where and when did u get this info from?

[CatgirlNC]

I just read 3 were injured, no fatalities. http://news.yahoo.com/5-bridge-collapses-wash-river-injuring-3-060449607.html

 

We are flying into Seattle in August to sail the Volendam out of Vancouver. I was already starting to have second thoughts on that, but my significant other really wants to see Seattle, and I wanted a cruise that left from Vancouver, so that was our compromise. We will spend an extra night & day in Seattle after the cruise.

 

We have not made any of our pre- or post-cruise travel arrangements (other than the flights), so I guess this complicates things a bit. I had planned on doing QuickShuttle, maybe now we should consider Amtrak? I think I'll wait and see what other CC folks are doing...

 

Seriously, what would we do without Cruise Critic? I didn't even know about the bridge collapse until I saw something posted about it on the HAL board.

[Tweedy]

On the WDOT website they have posted more info with alternate routes.

 

Hwy 9 is definitely an alternative, however, you would be adding on a good hour to your commute, especially if you were to go all the way to Sumas. I've driven this road with the car club many many times from the border all the way to Seattle. It is a nice ride (think country road) but a longer ride.

 

In addition to what WDOT has suggested, you could also take Hwy 20 west and then Hwy 536 east to get back onto I-5.

[WarumistdieBananekrumm]

On the WDOT website they have posted more info with alternate routes.

 

Hwy 9 is definitely an alternative, however, you would be adding on a good hour to your commute, especially if you were to go all the way to Sumas. I've driven this road with the car club many many times from the border all the way to Seattle. It is a nice ride (think country road) but a longer ride.

 

In addition to what WDOT has suggested, you could also take Hwy 20 west and then Hwy 536 east to get back onto I-5.

 

Traffic is being diverted off southbound I-5 at Exit 230. For an alternate route, take eastbound SR 20, then south on S. Burlington Blvd. and west on E. College Way (SR 538) to southbound I-5.

 

Northbound I-5 traffic must exit at Exit 227. An alternate route is east to E. College Way to northbound Riverside Drive-S. Burlington Boulevard, then west on George Hopper Road to I-5.

 

To use SR 9 as an alternate northbound route, bypassing Mount Vernon, take Exit 221 at SR 534 east to northbound SR 9 to SR 20 westbound to I-5.

 

Southbound I-5 traffic can get off at State Route 20, go over to State Route 536 then get back on I-5.

 

Drivers are being advised to avoid the area.

 

With the Memorial Day weekend starting Friday, residents heading north for the holiday should plan avoiding I-5 together.

 

There are several ways you can keep updated on traffic through the area:

•Download the Seattle Traffic App for your mobile device

•Sign up for KING 5 Traffic Text Alerts

•Visit the KING 5 Traffic page

•Follow KING 5's Tracy Taylor @King5TracyT on Twitter

•Call 511

[Gardyloo]

I think the big unknown is how truck traffic will be handled in the immediate future. According to the press, in 2010 (last data) 12% of the 70,000+ daily trips over the bridge were trucks - that's 8400+ - which will now have to use two-lane roads and bridges to detour around the trouble. One of the main routes being used for the detour, SR536, involves crossing a (2-lane) bridge that was rated in poorer condition than the one that collapsed.

 

Assuming the DOT can get something working that will avoid truckmageddon, I'd imagine the detour will add something like 30-40 min. to the drive between Seattle and Vancouver, possibly a bit less, for passenger vehicles. Although I like SR9 for its scenic qualities, I personally wouldn't consider it in this case; there are alternate routes to the west of Mount Vernon/Burlington that have equal or greater capacity, and which would involve a much shorter detour overall.

[Putterdude]

It now looks like there is at least one fatality and divers are now going into the water.

 

I guess if there is any good news coming out of this incident is that there were no fatalities...thank heavens. The bad news is that the collapse may have occurred as a result of truck with an over-sized load nicking the side of the bridge and the bridge getting close to the end of its life cycle. I wonder if this will dictate the replacement of the entire bridge which could take more than a year to replace?:eek:

[Urban trekker]

I have driven the route in question and know the bridge but it might help if some of the locals could post just how long the detours are - one mile - five miles etc - this might help some decide on how much extra driving time to add to the trips.

 

I am sure that Quick Shuttle and the Amtrak bus will start adjusting their schedules to reflect the long times.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Kenswing]

I guess if there is any good news coming out of this incident is that there were no fatalities...thank heavens. The bad news is that the collapse may have occurred as a result of truck with an over-sized load nicking the side of the bridge and the bridge getting close to the end of its life cycle. I wonder if this will dictate the replacement of the entire bridge which could take more than a year to replace?:eek:

They are batting around several ideas..

 

One is to fix the existing bridge in the near term then build a new one.

 

Another is to demo existing bridge and build a new one.

 

I think it comes down to how stable the existing structure is and how much money is available for the project.

 

A simple truck strike should not bring a bridge down so I'm sure sooner or later a new bridge will be built..

[martincath]

Looks like WSDOT have updated their signed detours this morning to add another west of I5 - there's a handy map of the options as of May 24th, 9:40am (check their website though, they've been updating it very frequently since the incident).

[Urban trekker]

Wonder if it would be practical to have one detour only for northbound and another only for south bound or is there too much local traffic and businesses that would be affected.

 

If there is one blessing in this incident is that there was no loss of life and that there are detours available - while an inconvenience there is at least some options.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

 

Here's all that Quick Shuttle is saying at the present time:

 

ANNOUNCEMENT

All buses are running Memorial Day Weekend; However, we are expecting delays due to traffic changes.

[Casagordita]

I just read 3 were injured, no fatalities. http://news.yahoo.com/5-bridge-collapses-wash-river-injuring-3-060449607.html

 

We are flying into Seattle in August to sail the Volendam out of Vancouver. I was already starting to have second thoughts on that, but my significant other really wants to see Seattle, and I wanted a cruise that left from Vancouver, so that was our compromise. We will spend an extra night & day in Seattle after the cruise.

 

We have not made any of our pre- or post-cruise travel arrangements (other than the flights), so I guess this complicates things a bit. I had planned on doing QuickShuttle, maybe now we should consider Amtrak? I think I'll wait and see what other CC folks are doing...

 

Seriously, what would we do without Cruise Critic? I didn't even know about the bridge collapse until I saw something posted about it on the HAL board.

 

Personally, I wouldn't wait. Amtrak will get you around the mess, and they are going to be a very popular alternative this summer. Sooner or later (and I'm betting it's sooner), seats are going to be in short supply. If you book with them, the worst that's likely to happen is that you'll find there are other acceptable options after all, and decide to cancel your train reservations and cash in your tickets.

 

The shortest detours will take vehicles off the freeway, through small-town streets with traffic lights and a railroad crossing, across another bridge, and back on the freeway at the next exit. As people are saying, it might add no more than half an hour or 45 minutes to the trip...but if traffic backs up, it could add a lot more than that. We just don't know yet. Other alternatives are much more roundabout and lengthy. Busses will find a way to get through, but they may have to add a LOT of time to their schedules to be reasonably sure of not making people miss a connection.

 

There is much speculation about what they will do to replace the bridge. Some people think they might put up a quick, temporary span, since this is such a critical route--but even that will take weeks or months. The rest of the bridge is just as old and obsolete, and really needs replacing altogether. My guess is that this is going to impact traffic between Seattle and Vancouver for most or all of the 2013 cruise season.