Traffic & Transit
Leaning Trees Over I-90 Will Force Temporary Westbound Closure
Gusty winds across Puget Sound caused a few headaches Tuesday, and crews are preparing to remove two trees leaning over I-90 near Issaquah.
ISSAQUAH, WA — High winds brought trees down across Puget Sound Tuesday morning, prompting several road closures. King County Road Services confirmed four tree-related closures by 7:30 a.m., including a portion of Issaquah-Hobart Road.
⛔️💨🌲We’ve got sections of 4 roads CLOSED due to down trees. Gusts of up to 45MPH have struck!Get road closure and reopen info: https://t.co/j2UxYLG0Ni pic.twitter.com/ZXFIadMHCA
— KC Road Services (@kcroads) November 9, 2021
Later in the morning, the Washington State Department of Transportation announced it would need to close the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 at milepost 18, near Issaquah, due to leaning trees that required immediate removal.
Our maintenance crews arriving now, setting up cones for traffic control. Reminder, the two left lanes will close initially here on westbound I-90 near milepost 18 in Issaquah. pic.twitter.com/reYANSQTtx
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) November 9, 2021
WSDOT maintenance crews arrived in the area, between SE High Point Way and East Sunset Way, shortly before 11:30 a.m. At first, WSDOT said only two lanes would close, but a full closure would be necessary once the trees were downed and removed.
Find out what's happening in Sammamish-Issaquahfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Here's a visual for this. The trees haven't fallen but you can see the lean. We're about to take these two trees down and will have intermittent closures: ⚠️Two left lanes on westbound I-90 (mp 18) will close ⚠️All lanes will close temporarily once down so they can be moved https://t.co/Pvh7rxc5xc pic.twitter.com/z8uF6ljZyV
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) November 9, 2021
Transportation officials said heavy equipment arrived to assist in the tree removal shortly before 1 p.m., but crews were still working in the area by mid-afternoon.
The BIG truck has arrived on westbound I-90 near milepost 18 in Issaquah. pic.twitter.com/ysLxNwbPhF
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) November 9, 2021
Find out what's happening in Sammamish-Issaquahfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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