"Since a crane is necessary for this work, the road remains closed while crews finish installing these shaft casings and other critical components for the new bridge." That is how WSDOT spokesperson Marcus Humberg explained, in a statement reported by The Herald in mid-September, why the road between Everett and downtown Snohomish would stay closed two weeks longer than planned.
The road did reopen on Sept. 30. WSDOT's traffic account confirmed it that night. The bridge it passes under is a different story. WSDOT's schedule for the SR 9 project starts building the new bridge this year and keeps crews at the Snohomish River crossing into 2028. The project page also lists Lowell-Snohomish River Road closures of up to six months as possible. That is roughly four times as long as the closure that just ended.
If you cross the river by car, by bike or on foot, the six weeks just past were the first long disruption of a three-year project.
The 30-day closure that ran six weeks
The original plan was simple. The Herald reported in August that one lane of Lowell-Snohomish River Road had been closed since late July. The full closure, in place around the clock, was set to start at 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17, and last 30 days while crews installed girders and started two new bridge piers in the Snohomish River.
The river work took longer than that. A WSDOT release, published by the Snohomish County Tribune on Sept. 16, extended the closure through Wednesday, Sept. 30. Crews needed the extra time to keep building concrete piers inside a cofferdam in the river. In The Herald's report, Humberg said crews were working extended hours and weekends to finish.
That overrun says something about the rest of the project. In-water bridge work carries a lot of unknowns, and this closure grew by about half its planned length once crews were in the river. Any future closure date from WSDOT is the best estimate on the day it's announced, so plan around it with that in mind.
What the crossing looks like this fall
Reopened does not mean back to normal. WSDOT says Lowell-Snohomish River Road near SR 9 has run alternating traffic since Sept. 30 and tells drivers to expect delays. The project page gives no end date for that traffic control.
On the highway, WSDOT says both directions of SR 9 are shifted to the east side of the roadway north of the Marsh Road intersection while crews widen it.
You can also hear the work. WSDOT says crews started driving piles for the new southbound bridge foundations in January 2026, and it calls the noise near the work zone "considerable" and "unavoidable." Before the project started, The Herald reported in November 2025 that WSDOT would limit pile driving to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. WSDOT's September release said more pile driving and bridge construction would continue through 2027.
One river crossing, three structures in sequence
The project runs so long because it covers three structures: two new bridges and the restoration of the existing one, with the new work coming before the old. WSDOT's $142 million plan includes:
- A new bridge west of the existing Snohomish River bridge to carry southbound SR 9.
- A new overflow bridge south of the SR 9 river bridges.
- A rebuilt southbound on-ramp from Second Street.
- An exit-only lane on northbound SR 9 to Second Street.
- Widening of about two miles of SR 9 between Marsh Road and Second Street to four lanes.
- ADA improvements at the SR 9 and Marsh Road intersection.
- Restoration and repainting of the existing Snohomish River Bridge, built in 1959.
The order of that work decides where the work zone sits each year. Here is the schedule WSDOT has posted:
| Phase | WSDOT's posted timing | Where the work sits |
|---|---|---|
| Pile driving for new southbound bridges | Began January 2026 | West of the existing bridge |
| New southbound bridge construction | Summer 2026 to 2027 | West of the existing bridge, including piers in the river |
| Restoring and repainting the existing bridge | 2027 to 2028 | The 1959 bridge carrying today's traffic |
| Project completion | 2028 | Full corridor |
When the new southbound bridge is done, the crews move to the bridge everyone uses today.
A note on the price: The Herald's November 2025 headline called it a $145 million project, but the article and WSDOT's project page both say $142 million.
The closures still on WSDOT's list
WSDOT's project page lists the closures it may need at various points during construction:
- Nightly full or one-direction closures of SR 9 and its ramps.
- Short closures of Lowell-Snohomish River Road, up to two weeks.
- Long closures of Lowell-Snohomish River Road, up to six months.
- Partial closures of Marsh Road and Airport Way.
None of these has a date yet. The page lists them as possibilities without a schedule. The six-month figure isn't new, either. The Herald reported the same range, two weeks to six months, before construction began, along with freight detours.
This is the main point to plan around. The August and September closure was planned for 30 days and ran about six weeks. WSDOT's posted plan still includes a possible closure of up to six months. If that happens, a long stretch of the detour would come back, and WSDOT will announce the dates.
The detour, in case it comes back
During the August and September closure, WSDOT posted this detour for eastbound drivers on Lowell-Snohomish River Road:
- Take South Second Avenue/Lowell-Larimer Road.
- Turn at Marsh Road.
- Continue to Airport Way/Avenue D.
Westbound drivers took the same route in reverse.
Two details matter for anyone who uses the river road without a car. During the full closure, through travel was banned for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians alike. Local access stayed open for residents, and WSDOT said businesses along Lowell-Snohomish River Road stayed open and reachable. If you ride or walk that stretch, a future closure would cut off your route the same way it cuts off drivers.
Marsh Road and Airport Way carried the detour this time, and both are on WSDOT's list for possible partial closures later in the project. So the detour route itself may see lane work at some point.
What the project is meant to fix
The case for all this disruption is in WSDOT's description of the corridor. SR 9 started as a rural two-lane highway. WSDOT now calls it a key north-south alternative to I-5 for commuters and freight in Snohomish County, with regular congestion at peak times.
"Because of the amount of traffic, there's a great deal of bottle-necking and traffic building up, especially around rush hour, the bridge and the road there just needs to accommodate more traffic," WSDOT spokesperson Della Kostelnik Juarez told The Herald in November 2025. In the same article, Heather Thomas-Murphy, who was Snohomish's city administrator at the time, said the project would "improve access to our local businesses and tourist destinations." Ken Klein holds that role now, according to the City's August 2026 business bulletin.
When it's finished, SR 9 will have two lanes in each direction across the river, where today it has one.
Where closure notices show up first
The August closure was announced about a week ahead. The Herald's notice ran Aug. 10, and the Tribune printed the schedule and detour Aug. 13, four days before the road closed. The City of Snohomish had already flagged the single-lane restrictions and the coming 30-day closure in its August 4 Snohomish Business Bulletin.
WSDOT's own channels are the most direct sources:
- Project email updates: WSDOT's subscription page for this project.
- Mobile app: the WSDOT app for real-time travel information.
- Travel map: the WSDOT real-time travel map.
- Project page: WSDOT's SR 9 Marsh Road to Second Street page, which posts the current status at the top.
If a long closure is announced in 2027, expect a lead time like the roughly one week this one had.
If you plan to sell or buy near the SR 9 corridor while the bridge work goes on, a closure calendar can affect showing times, moving days and closing dates. Jennifer Schultz follows these schedules and can help you plan your timeline around them. Let's Connect.
