Slippery Everett On-Ramp To Get Traction Make-Over This Weekend

35 miles per hour is the recommended speed for this curve.

Here is the detour route this weekend. Click map for more information on the project.

Starting this week, contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will begin work on a $300,000 pilot project designed to increase traction on the eastbound State Route 526 on-ramp to southbound Interstate 5 in Everett. The work will require the ramp to be closed over the weekend of June 12-15. A similar project is happening on the 148th Avenue Southeast on-ramp to I-90 in Bellevue.

The process, high friction surface treatment, involves attaching a sand-like aggregate to the roadway surface using industrial strength glue. The grittier roadway surface gives tires extra traction when the roadway surface is wet. While this project is the first of its kind for WSDOT in Puget Sound, it has proven successful in many other states across the country.

“It’s no secret that roadways, especially curved ramps, get slippery in the rain,” said WSDOT Transportation Engineer Dina Swires. “We expect to see a dramatic reduction in the number of collisions on both of the ramps for those drivers who overlook the posted advisory speed, misjudge the curves or are just not paying attention.”

In 2014, wet weather was a contributing factor in nearly 74 percent of the crashes on the eastbound State Route 526 on-ramp to I-5 and in 84 percent of the crashes on the 148th Avenue Southeast on-ramp to I-90.