Northbound I-5 weekend closure ruins weekend plans for some



SEATTLE -- Starting Friday night, northbound I-5 will be completely shut down from the West Seattle Bridge to Olive Way in downtown Seattle for the entire weekend. For some, that means canceling their weekend plans.

From 8 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday, the Washington State Department of Transportation will close parts of northbound Interstate 5.

WSDOT officials say during the weekend they will replace 3,000 feet of concrete and replace expansion joints along the interstate.

“We need the whole weekend to do this work, and we need to fully close northbound 5 because the area where we’re working is simply too narrow to keep two lanes of traffic open safely,” said WSDOT spokesperson Tom Pearce.

Pearce says if you don’t have to be on the roads, the best bet is to stay out of your car. However, for a lot of people in Seattle that will be difficult this weekend.

“The concert’s sold out,” said Ed Repanich.

Repanich lives in West Seattle. Thursday, he was perusing through the music selection at Easy Street Records. But what he was most excited about was a concert he had tickets to this weekend in downtown Seattle.

He says thanks to I-5 shutdowns this weekend, he most likely will change his plans.

“Because there is no work-around, right? You can go by water, hot air balloon, hang glide,” said Repanich.

There are several big events in town this weekend, including Mariners games and the music festival Upstream.

Officials say the closures on I-5 will affect surrounding area roads.

They suggest using public transportation like the Link light rail. In fact, Mariners fans can use their game tickets to get free rides on the Link this weekend. You can use your ticket 3 hours before the game through the end of the day.