The I-5/Chuckanut Drive interchange in Burlington will reopen with a new roundabout and repaved southbound I-5 on- and off-ramps at 5 a.m. on Friday, July 30. The interchange will open one day later than originally scheduled. 

During the extended closure and construction of the roundabout, crews discovered buried concrete panels beneath the roadway and soft spots in the ground. The concrete panels had to be removed and the soft spots had to be dug out and refilled.  

“We weren’t expecting to uncover concrete panels and soft subgrade,” said project engineer Mark Hammer. “They were a surprise, and that extra work put us behind schedule a couple days. Fortunately, ICI (the contractor) was aggressive and was able to make up some of the lost time, so we’re only opening a day late.” 

The new single-lane roundabout on Chuckanut Drive at the Josh Wilson Road intersection is the first of two roundabouts to be built at the interchange this summer. The second roundabout will open in September at the Old Highway 99 intersection. The roundabouts will help relieve congestion and improve safety at the interchange. 

WSDOT wants to remind drivers of a few simple rules for driving single-lane roundabouts:

1. Yield to drivers in the roundabout
2. Do not stop in the roundabout
3. Always drive counterclockwise through the roundabout

Videos and graphics explaining how to drive a roundabout are available on the WSDOT roundabout website.  This $4.8 million construction project is primarily funded by the 2005 Transportation Partnership Funding Package.