Traffic alert: Long delays snarl I-82 travel over Columbia River south of Tri-Cities

Traffic has been slowed and backed up on Interstate 82 between Kennewick and Umatilla at times on some recent days due to work on the bridge across the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon.

The Washington State Department of Transportation warned travelers heading south of a 24-hour single-lane closure at the bridge and a 12-foot wide restriction for the bridge work.

Monday afternoon the delays going south were several miles long.

WSDOT announced in the spring that it is partnering with its Oregon counterpart on a year-long, $18 million project to repaint the underside of the Interstate 82 bridge that carries traffic across the Columbia River into Oregon.

The two states are sharing the expense, but WSDOT is the manager. Vimas Painting Co. of Lowelville, Ohio, is the contractor.

The work includes cleaning and painting existing metal girders, repairing support systems and other items. The Umatilla bridge painting project echoes of the blue bridge painting project on the Highway 395 bridge that snarled traffic in 2024.

The blue bridge project involved painting the entire bridge. The Umatilla work involves the underside of the bridge, with more work to come in the future.

Check for travel delays at wsdot.com/Travel/Real-time/Map.

This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 5:38 PM.