On Dec. 1, 2025, construction crews began installing nearly 100 steel piles that will be the foundation of a bridge that will span the Snohomish River, as well as a second bridge just south of the river over a gulley, snoho.com reported.
These bridges will run in parallel to the existing State Route 9.
After the project is finished, the existing bridge will handle northbound traffic, while the new bridge will handle southbound. The on- and off-ramps at Second Street will be altered, snoho.com reported.
"Piledriving is unavoidably loud. Unfortunately, it's a necessary part of building a bridge in the flood plain," said Marcus Humberg, spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
The widening of S.R. 9 will begin in the spring of 2026, with the construction of the new bridges beginning in the summer of 2026. Restoration and repainting of the current Snohomish River bridge will start in 2027, and the project is scheduled to be completed in 2028, according to a timeline from the state Department of Transportation.
Workers have begun installing 96 piles ranging from 40 ft. and 85 ft. in length. Pile driving will take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, according to snoho.com
Humberg said that WSDOT hand-delivered flyers to neighbors living near the construction zone and mailed 9,000 postcards to inform residents about the piledriving.
Snohomish County's population has been growing over the past decade leading to backups and congestion on the two-lane S.R. 9, Humberg said.
Between 1980 and 2018, Snohomish County's population increased by 400,000 residents, which adds traffic volumes on most state highways and interstates throughout the region, according to information from WSDOT. S.R. 9 was once a rural highway, but the two-lane road now serves as the only north-south alternative to Interstate 5 through Snohomish County, snoho.com reported.
"This is going to be doubling the capacity of State Route 9 in the area," Humberg said. The current bridge over the Snohomish River has been two lanes since it was constructed in 1959.
The $142 million project is funded through Connecting Washington, which is a 16-year state program that started in 2016 and is funded through an 11.9-cent gas tax implemented in 2016, snoho.com reported. The program is designed to help preserve the state highway system and reduce congestion in the Puget Sound region.
WSDOT said that the Lowell-Snohomish River Road will be fully closed at some points during the project, and partial closures of Marsh Road and Airport Way may be needed.
