Skagit River Bridge safe to cross sometime next week

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MOUNT VERNON (NEWS1130) – The I-5 between Burlington and Mount Vernon should be more-or-less back to normal sometime next week.

Washington State’s transportation department is reassuring you a temporary Skagit River Bridge replacement will be safe when it opens to traffic the week of June 17th.

Supports are up, some temporary sections are in, and crews are working night and day to get it done.

Travis Phelps with the transportation department says it’s the same type of makeshift span used elsewhere in the States when something unexpected happens.

“Where we have earthquakes, hurricanes, those sorts of things that take out bridges. These bridges have also been used by the military, and also used to excavate heavy amounts of material from Ground Zero in New York so these are state of the art bridges. It looks a little funky, but it gets the job done.”

Expect a lower speed limit than the current 60 MPH, as well as narrowed lanes, but Phelps says the bridge will be able to handle the 71,000 cars and trucks using that part of the I-5 every day. Until then, a detour remains in place.

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