After years of delays, the Edgewater Bridge is finally closing tomorrow, October 30th, 2024.
If you aren’t familiar with the project, the City of Everett will close Mukilteo Boulevard to replace the 78-year-old Edgewater Bridge that has reached the end of its useful life. Further background on the project here.
For those who must travel in the area, here’s some important detour information from the traffic engineering team:
Impact:
The traffic that is being detoured is only the traffic that would normally travel between Glenwood Avenue and the City of Mukilteo.
This section of Mukilteo Boulevard sees about 5,600 vehicles per day, a very low volume for a major arterial in Everett.
During the design process, a traffic analysis was performed, and the detoured traffic did not cause any operational issues on any of the detour streets. While the detour route will be busier, it will not be dramatically different, and there will be no serious congestion as a result.
The detour will add a maximum of roughly 250-300 vehicles per hour during the evening peak in each direction to the detour route. Much of the detoured traffic on this section is driving between Mukilteo and I-5 or north Everett and, if drivers are detoured south out of Mukilteo onto Mukilteo Speedway (SR 525), most will take the Boeing Freeway (SR 526) to I-5 to get to their destination faster.
We expect that after the first couple weeks, the only drivers that will use the detour route will be residents that live along the closed roadway. The reality is we expect that everyday commuters and commercial traffic will just use another route.
Large Trucks:
The bridges on Mukilteo Boulevard for this section are all currently weight restricted, meaning large trucks are not permitted to travel this section of roadway without an oversize load permit. This explains why the bridge closure will not result in an increase in the number of large trucks on the detour route.
Traffic Patterns & Apps:
Please note that traffic patterns will take at least two weeks to stabilize. Initially there will be an increase in traffic after the bridge closure, then drivers will gradually find another, more convenient way to reach their destination.
It will take time for the navigation apps to start directing people around to Mukilteo and back. We should expect significant traffic for one to two weeks, followed by gradual improvement.
Please know that City staff have alerted traffic navigation providers of the closure and detour.
Detours:
October 29, 2024
Everett Government, Everett Jobs