Labor Day travel plans? What to know if heading over I-90 Vantage Bridge

Labor Day weekend is one of the most heavily traveled weekends of the year on Interstate 90 in Washington state.

The Department of Transportation will be pausing most of its road projects for the long holiday weekend, but WSDOT officials are still warning drivers to expect travel delays because of the volume of traffic on the roads.

In particular, the I-90 Vantage Bridge over the Columbia River in Central Washington could be a choke point if you’re heading to parts of Western Washington from the Tri-Cities this weekend or heading east from Ellensburg.

After months of lane restrictions, all four lanes across the bridge will reopen by 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 29.

Then, travel will narrow back to one lane in each direction by 8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 2. The restrictions will continue every day until the project wraps up for the winter on Nov. 1.

The $79 million overhaul to replace the existing deck on the 63-year-old bridge began in Spring 2024 and is set to finish in Spring 2028.

Since 2019, WSDOT discovered over a dozen holes in the deck requiring emergency repairs and lane closures, said WSDOT. In 2020, three holes were discovered in one day.

The bridge’s last major overhaul was in 1982.

No work is scheduled over Snoqualmie Pass during the holiday weekend, but drivers should expect long delays, WSDOT officials said.

The four routes that historically see the most holiday traffic congestion and don’t have alternative routes include:

• I-5 Lacey to Tacoma
• I-90 North Bend to Cle Elum
• U.S. Highway 2 between Skykomish and Stevens Pass
• I-5 at the U.S.-Canada border

WSDOT recommends drivers check out the I-90 travel charts to help plan your trip.