All Vantage Bridge lanes open for holiday travel – but expect delays

VANTAGE — The good news for Memorial Day weekend is that most road construction has been suspended from Friday through Tuesday morning. On the other hand, the weather forecast is for sunny skies, it’s a three-day weekend and it’s going to be busy out there. 

Or, as the Washington Dept. of Transportation put it, traffic – including the Vantage Bridge – will be “trafficky.” 

All four lanes of the bridge will be open over the holiday weekend, and the repaving project between the bridge and George will be on hold. Drivers should plan for some rough road conditions in the project area. However, drivers can still expect congestion on the freeway during peak drive times, depending on the direction they’re traveling. 

Drivers headed west on Friday can expect moderate to heavy traffic from about 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Traffic on the eastbound trip back on Monday is expected to be moderate to heavy from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and ease thereafter. 

The DOT has an interactive map on its website that provides periodic updates on travel conditions. The agency also has a phone app that provides the same information and has a link to the website. 

DOT officials recommend checking the map in advance, just to see where the bottlenecks are, and adding extra travel time.  

DOT officials have recommended since the beginning of the Vantage Bridge project that drivers look for alternate routes in the spring and summer travel seasons. One of the recommended alternatives is via Blewett Pass east of Ellensburg to Wenatchee, reconnecting to I-90 at Quincy. Blewett Pass will be open over the weekend, although a construction project is in the final stages of completion near Leavenworth. 

The second major alternative is I-82 through Yakima to Tri-Cities, then Highway 395 to Ritzville, where it reconnects with I-90.  

A roundabout is under construction at the intersection of SR-17 and West Cunningham Road in Othello. West Cunningham is closed at the intersection; SR-17 is still open and will be all weekend – but with the possibility of delays when there are a lot of cars.  Traffic is controlled with an automatic stoplight during construction. 

The North Cascades Highway, SR-20, is still closed, but it will be reopening sooner than originally anticipated. It’s expected to reopen by June 25, earlier than DOT’s initial completion date of July 4. 

Typically, SR-20 closes in late October or early November and reopens in April or May. Crews have cleared the snow from the road between Winthrop and Porcupine Creek with some camping areas accessible. But some popular summer camping spots are still inaccessible due to damage east of Marblemount. Crews have been working on repairs since May 5.