Vantage Bridge work slows I-90 travel

VANTAGE — Washington Department of Transportation officials are recommending that drivers look for routes across the state that avoid the Vantage Bridge on Interstate 90 on weekends through the end of the construction season in late October. The first weekend of work on the bridge resulted in major traffic delays Friday night. 

“There were significant delays,” said Summer Derrey, assistant communications specialist for the Washington Department of Transportation South Central Region. 

Construction crews have been working on the bridge since April, the first year of a three-year project to rehabilitate the bridge deck. The deck was and is in poor condition, with the Columbia River visible through some of the potholes.  

The construction requires one lane of the bridge to be closed in each direction and the speed is reduced to 40 miles per hour through the construction zone. The bridge was open on weekends during the summer, but construction switched to a 24/7 schedule after Labor Day through the end of construction season. September 6 was the first Friday on the new schedule.

Department of Transportation officials issued an alert at about 2 p.m. Friday, warning eastbound drivers of backups between Ellensburg and Moses Lake. The alert remained in effect until about 1 a.m. Saturday. Travel was a little smoother Sunday afternoon, with a traffic advisory warning of backups for westbound travelers that was in effect for about two hours.

The DOT has issued a map showing some alternative routes for drivers planning a cross-state trip that avoids the bridge.  

One alternative for travelers between the Seattle-Tacoma area or Olympia and Spokane is Blewett Pass through Leavenworth and Wenatchee, then State Route 28 to Quincy and the junction of State Route 281 and I-90. The DOT estimated that route would add about an hour to the travel time. 

An alternate route for people traveling to or from Everett is U.S. Highway 2 through Leavenworth and Wenatchee and SR 28 to Quincy, according to the DOT map. That’s projected to add about 30 minutes to the trip. 

There’s also a southern alternative, Seattle or Tacoma to Ellensburg, south to Yakima on Interstate 82 through Tri-Cities, US Highway 395 to its intersection with I-90 near Ritzville. That route too is estimated to add about an hour to the trip.  

Either route is projected to add about an hour to a trip between Cle Elum and Spokane, and about an hour and 15 minutes between Ellensburg and Spokane. Drivers going between Yakima and Spokane can expect about 15 minutes of additional travel time. 

Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said that since traffic will still be moving over Vantage Bridge, emergency responders have been planning for traffic jams. 

The sheriff’s office, Washington State Patrol and DOT have been talking with Royal Slope Fire-Rescue-EMS (Grant County Fire District 10), which is the lead agency responding to the Vantage Bridge and the section of I-90 from the bridge to Silica Road, Foreman wrote in response to a question from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

“In case of a medical emergency, vehicle fire or wildfire along I-90, if there’s gridlock, first responders will, in the safest way possible, try and access the incident by traveling on the shoulders of I-90. The WSP and WSDOT will assist in clearing as many obstructing vehicles as possible,” Foreman wrote. 

“If victims are suffering from serious injuries or illness, (GCFD 10) has three pre-designated helicopter landing zones that do not involve landing helicopters on the surface of I-90,” he wrote. 

    The Washington State Department of Transportation is recommending alternatives for travelers looking to drive across the state during Vantage Bridge construction, especially on weekends.