Crews in Renton reopened the right lane on southbound I-405 at 11 a.m. Sunday morning, before the Seahawks game and a day ahead of schedule, according to the Washington state Department of Transportation.

“Careful planning and good weather helped crews replace 34 damaged concrete panels this weekend,” said Jon Harris, WSODT Project Engineer. “We want to thank the drivers who changed their driving behavior to get around the work zone – we had far less congestion than expected.”

Traffic engineers anticipated up to hour-long delays if drivers did not use alternate routes or delay trips. The longest delays took place on Saturday afternoon when it took drivers 17 minutes to get from SR 169 through the work zone at Southcenter.

The work is part of the $91.5 million I-405/I-5 to SR 169 Stage 1 Widening Project, which adds a new I-405 lane in each direction between I-5 and SR 167 and a new southbound SR 167 lane between I-405 and Southwest 41st Street.

When open to traffic later this fall, these project improvements will help relieve congestion at the I-405 interchanges with SR 167 and I-5, and improve the drive from Renton to Tukwila, one of the worst bottlenecks along the I-405 corridor.