Closure planned for portion of Medical Lake interchange

Drivers will be enduring a 10-day closure of the north half of the Medical Lake interchange beginning Monday, Sept. 30, according to Washington State Department of Transportation officials.

The closure will involve the north half of the interchange only, during which both the Interstate 90 westbound off- and on-ramps, and the freeway overcrossing structure between the interchange’s north and south sides will all be closed.

Drivers using State Route 902 from Medical Lake will need to detour to the Four Lakes Interchange during the closure, traveling instead down Lake Street that eventually becomes SR 902.

Motorists who access the Medical Lake interchange from north Craig Road coming from Airway Heights will need to instead continue southbound along Craig to SR 902, then on to the Four Lakes Interchange.

But the longest detour will be for drivers wishing to travel westbound onto Interstate 90 from the south side of the interchange. Rather than crossing north over the freeway on the existing bridge, westbound drivers will instead be required to head eastbound on I-90, and then turn around through the Geiger Interchange before traveling westbound.

Hayford Road drivers have already been enduring a detour due to the closure of the road at Geiger Boulevard as the county reconstructs the intersection. That detour will remain, but not be affected by the WSDOT closure.

The state contractor, R.A. Degerstrom, will be working 24 hours a day for 10 straight days during the closure to “accelerate” the schedule and make up for delays encountered by utility-related conflicts on the construction site, according to WSDOT Project Engineer Mark Allen.

The new interchange will have three roundabouts when completed: two on the north side and one on the south side. Degerstrom will be focusing the middle roundabout that will handle freeway on- and off-traffic on the north side of the interchange during the closure.

The northern-most roundabout that has been taking shape will be opened during the closure, but only for traffic coming or going from SR 902 to Geiger Boulevard.

“We’re trying to get back on schedule,” Allen said of the reason for the closure, noting that Degerstrom would construct the middle roundabout “all at once.”

The original construction schedule called for 6 – 7 weeks of construction of the roundabout with multiple traffic control stages.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].