I-5 - Chamber Way - Stage 2

Interstate 5 or I-5, serves as the primary connecting highway on the west coast, running parallel to the Pacific Coast through California, Oregon and Washington, and is the only highway in the nation to touch both the Canadian and Mexico borders.

Needs & benefits

Due to an increase in congestion during weekday peak commute times (typically between 4-6 p.m. on weekdays and between 12-2 p.m. on Fridays) and in an effort to improve safety and trip reliability, the Washington State Department of Transportation is looking at ways to improve mobility along I-5 between Chamber Way and the SR 6 and Mellen Street interchanges, in Chehalis. Once this project is complete, travelers will experience less congestion, reduced travel times and an increase in travel time reliability and safety. 

Study area

The I-5 Chamber Way - Stage 2 project spans multiple local jurisdictions in Lewis County between the cities of Chehalis and Centralia.​

The general study limits may include the following:

• I-5 between SR 6/Main Street and Mellen Street
• Chamber Way between Louisiana Avenue and National Avenue
• West Street between Louisiana Avenue and State Avenue
• SR 6/Main Street between Riverside Drive and State Avenue

End results

Safety

 This project will look at ways to improve safety throughout this corridor.

• Between 13th Street (Parkland Drive) and Harrison Avenue, collisions have increased by nearly 40 percent during peak commute times between 2014 and 2018.
• There were a total of 1,146 crashes in the study area. Two-thirds of the collisions in the study area were rear-end and side-impact crashes, which are generally associated with congested traffic conditions.  

Mobility

This project will look at improvements to address the mobility along the corridor, including freight, general highway traffic, local traffic, transit and for pedestrians.