WASHINGTON STATE — Roughly 50,000 cars travel north along State Route 167 in Pacific each day, but starting Wednesday night, that commute will look a lot different.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is beginning work to repair a damaged overpass at 3rd Avenue SW, which was struck by an over-height vehicle in September. All northbound lanes between Steward and Ellingson Roads will close at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, and when the overpass reopens around 5 a.m. on Thursday, only one northbound lane will be open for traffic.
3rd Ave., which runs under the overpass, will also be closed through the rest of the year.
“Leave a little bit earlier or leave a little bit later if there’s any flexibility in your schedule,” said RB McKeon with WSDOT. Crews will work to repair and replace a concrete beam toward the middle of the bridge that WSDOT says was severely damaged. The construction is expected to finish sometime in early 2026.
“We’ll have folks out there seven days a week working to get this restored,” McKeon continued, “to get the girder repaired, replaced.”
It’s one of several bridge strikes across western Washington over the past six months, including the Bullfrog Road overpass on I-90. The string of damages prompted King County Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn to encourage WSDOT to consider a “Stupid Motorist Law” to hold drivers of large loads accountable.
McKeon told KOMO News that bridge strikes and other similar damage to infrastructure are preventable.
“I would ask people to take that extra few minutes to do a nice 360 walk around and make sure that things that can be lowered and retracted and secured are, so that we can avoid these,” she added. Until repairs are completed, WSDOT is asking drivers to expect longer travel times and consider using alternate routes. McKeon noted that the closures could add congestion to other surrounding roadways.
“People will find the path of least resistance,” she said. “And if I-5 is that for them, they’ll take I-5.”
WSDOT awarded a $1.6M contract to Johansen Construction Co. of Sumner to complete the repairs. The project will be paid for with federal emergency funds, according to officials. Gov. Bob Ferguson issued an emergency proclamation for the repairs in September.
