(The Center Square) – Major repairs begin Wednesday night on the northbound State Route 167 bridge over 3rd Avenue Southwest in Pacific, following damage caused by an over-height truck back in September.
All lanes will close overnight from 11 p.m. on Wednesday, to 5 a.m. on Thursday, between Stewart and Ellingson roads, with a signed detour in place.
The real commute misery begins Thursday morning, when only the right lane will be open across the overpass.
“We’ll stay in that traffic configuration and in that lane reduction until work is complete on the repairs,” said Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson RB McKeon. “The work will not be completed for several weeks at least.
She added, “It’s early 2026 and right now that’s about as specific as I can get.”
The over-height truck hit the bridge on 3rd Ave. SW on September 23. According to news reports, it was a dump truck owned by Valley Recycling that hit the bridge after the driver failed to lower the bed following a delivery.
“After inspection and all of that, we were able to reopen two lanes of traffic while we were going through the process to procure a girder and onboard a contractor who’s going to do the work,” McKeon said.
The road underneath the bridge will be closed for the duration of the project.
“The good news is we’ll be working around the clock on this, seven days a week, until it’s done,” McKeon said, adding that crews will even work during the holidays.
She explained WSDOT is seeking reimbursement from the insurance provider for the company responsible for the damage.
“It’s WSDOT’s customary practice to seek third-party reimbursement when our infrastructure is damaged by a third party, as in this case. So, our risk management office takes care of that process, but it can obviously take some time,” she said. “And then the governor issued an emergency proclamation shortly after this happened. And so that allows WSDOT to seek federal funding reimbursement for this as well. Anything that third-party insurance wouldn’t cover, we would look to seek federal reimbursement for.”
In the days following the initial collision and lane closures, traffic on and near the bridge backed up for miles during the morning commute. Alternate routes were also impacted.
“It will definitely be tough,” McKeon admitted. “There are alternate routes, and we’re hoping that people will alter their travel plans if that’s possible for them. Maybe they can leave earlier than normal or later than normal, if that’s possible. We just appreciate everyone’s patience. This isn’t something that we planned for or anything like that. It just happened.”
She told The Center Square that WSDOT is already in discussions with lawmakers and collaborating with transportation officials in other states to develop strategies to prevent future incidents involving over-height vehicles.
“We are definitely exploring different options. It’s a good opportunity for our bridge folks to talk to other states’ bridge folks, which we’ve been doing,” McKeon said. “And certainly legislators who have had these incidents happen in their districts have taken an interest in understanding what the options are and things like that. So, I’m sure that with the 2026 legislative session kicking off, we’re happy to have any conversations that folks would like.”
The Pacific bridge incident is one of three recent serious accidents involving over-height vehicles crashing into bridges, causing significant damage and traffic impacts.
Work to replace the Bullfrog Road overpass above the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 near Cle Elum is set to begin by the end of November. The bridge was hit and severely damaged by an over-height load in late October.
And as reported by The Center Square, the State Route 410 White River Bridge between Buckley and Enumclaw reopened Oct. 17 after a nearly two-month closure caused by an over-height truck slamming into the bridge.
