State Route 532 near Stanwood will have a two-week closure in order for crews to replace a culvert under the highway. (skyvalleychronicle.com photo)

Travelers have a few weeks to plan ahead for an approximate two-week closure of State Route 532 near Stanwood. Highway users will be detoured onto county roads starting 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11, while crews replace a culvert under the highway.

Washington State Department of Transportation contractor crews from Strider Construction are building a temporary bypass road to keep traffic moving during this upcoming closure. This bypass will connect Snohomish County's 268th Street Northwest to SR 532 just east of 72nd Avenue Northwest.

Passenger Vehicle Detour

During the closure there will be simple detour routes in place for vehicle traffic.

• Westbound travelers will take a right on 36th Avenue Northwest then a left on 268th Street Northwest. This will connect travelers back to SR 532 just before the Stanwood Camano Village shopping center via the bypass road.

• Eastbound travelers will curve left onto the bypass road from SR 532 just east of 72nd Avenue Northwest onto 268th Street Northwest, then will take a right on 64th Avenue Northwest and a left back onto SR 532.

Uniformed law enforcement will be stationed at a number of these turning points during peak travel times to keep traffic moving. Drivers should note that speed limits along the detour are lower than speeds on SR 532, and just 25 mi. per hour across the new temporary bypass lane.

“We know this will add a bit of time to everyone's commute, including mine,” said Shane Spahr, project engineer. “The detour routes take you through areas with homes, children and pets, so we appreciate everyone planning ahead and respecting speed limits to help keep yourself and others safe.”

Truck, Large Vehicle Detour Routes

Truck and recreational vehicle traffic will have a longer detour route in place. To reach Stanwood or Camano Island, travelers with vehicles that need a wider turning radius will need to take Interstate 5 to exit 221. Then head west on SR 534 and south on Pioneer Highway to Old Pacific Highway. Trucks and large vehicles leaving the Stanwood Camano Island area will use the same route in reverse.

Drivers concerned with making sharp turns on two lane roads should use the longer detour. These detour routes are available to cyclists, though they may want to consider alternate routes with lower volumes.

Work Being Done

During the closure, crews will remove a small culvert that is a barrier to fish and replace it with a large box culvert under the highway. This work requires significant excavation for the new culvert to fit in this area. Crews will then rebuild the road; additional stream and landscaping work will be done once the highway reopens.

WSDOT has worked for decades to reconnect streams and keep waterways healthy. This work continues that effort and complies with a U.S. District Court ruling on fish passage work.

Once complete, this work will improve access to more than 10 mi. of fish habitat for coho and chum salmon and steelhead and cutthroat trout.

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