WSDOT, SDOT outline Revive I-5 Ship Canal Bridge preservation; high‑impact closures start this weekend

State and city transportation officials on June 17, 2025, briefed the Seattle City Council Transportation Committee on Revive I‑5, a multiyear Ship Canal Bridge preservation program. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said work begins this summer and will include weekend full closures and a monthlong northbound lane reduction starting July 21, 2025; preservation work is expected to continue on a staged schedule through 2027.

WSDOT northwest region administrator Brian Nielsen told the committee the Ship Canal Bridge is roughly 60 years old and has required frequent emergency repairs in recent years. "The bridge is about 60 years old, and it's been about 40 years since we've done a major preservation project on it," Nielsen said, and noted WSDOT had made over 200 emergency repairs in the past five years.

WSDOT described the first summer work as two northbound lane reductions bookended by weekendlong full closures to establish and remove work zones; the longer four‑week northbound lane reduction (beginning in the early hours of July 21, 2025) will run roughly from the SR 520 interchange to…