The last of five weekends of lane reductions on southbound Interstate 5 south of Seattle wrapped up at 5 a.m. today, Aug. 22, and southbound State Route 167 also reopened in Pacific at about 3:30 a.m. to conclude #SouthKingSlowdown’s busiest weekend.

Contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation spent the weekend replacing expansion joints on southbound I-5 at the Duwamish River Bridge while the interstate was reduced to two lanes. That was the last weekend-long lane reduction planned for this project.

Another contractor crew working for WSDOT closed southbound SR 167 for the weekend and installed a culvert under the highway between Ellingson Road and Eighth Street East. They also took advantage of the closure to repave that 1-mile section of SR 167.

“We want to thank drivers for their patience and cooperation during these weekend lane reductions,” WSDOT Traffic Engineer Mike Swires said. “We saw some backups each weekend, but drivers chose alternatives that reduced traffic volumes on I-5, which helped keep traffic manageable.”

Work on southbound I-5 will continue into 2017 during nighttime lane reductions. Crews will continue work between the Duwamish River and South 320th Street in Federal Way including paving, grinding to eliminate ruts and expansion joint work on the State Route 516 overpass.

Crews are currently on schedule to complete the remaining stages of the SR 167 HOT Lane Extension project that includes widening of southbound SR 167 to Eighth Street East in Pacific by fall 2016. At that time, the new lane will open to traffic as an HOV lane. Contractor crews plan to install toll equipment by early 2017. When the project is complete, the lane will operate as a HOT lane.