Bellingham working to ease congestion caused by northbound I-5 landslide detours
A detour around the Interstate 5 landslide near Lake Samish is having broad impact across the city, affecting bus service, once-quiet neighborhoods and access to schools and popular parks.
At a Bellingham City Council committee meeting Monday, Public Works Department Director Joel Pfundt said that city officials are using its network of cameras to adjust the timing of traffic lights at congested intersections such as Chuckanut Drive/12th Street and Old Fairhaven Parkway, at Samish Way and Elwood/Lincoln streets, and on Yew, Woburn and Iowa streets.
“We are monitoring all of those. We are doing what we can, but it’s difficult for us to absorb 50,000 cars a day into our local system,” Pfundt told the City Council during a committee meeting Monday afternoon.
Crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation removed trees blocking the road Sunday, but the hillside remains unstable, WSDOT’s David Rasbach told The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday. Engineers were still assessing the situation, he said.
Northbound I-5 remained closed Tuesday between the North Lake Samish and Old Fairhaven Parkway exits. There was no estimate for opening of the freeway, where an average 24,431 cars and trucks travel every day, according to a 2024 traffic count, Rasbach said.
“We know how important I-5 is in this area and understand the frustration when it needs to be closed. But safety of crews out working at the site and for people traveling through the area is our No. 1 priority. We are working to reopen I-5 as quickly as it is safe to do so,” he said in an email.
Traffic is being diverted off northbound I-5 at North Lake Samish, then routed along Samish Way back to the freeway at Lincoln Street.
WSDOT-suggested detours include Highway 9 and Chuckanut Drive, Rasbach said.
“We also recommend people consider using SR 9 and SR 11/Chuckanut Drive as alternate routes. For semi drivers, SR 11 and local roads are not suitable for freight traffic. Our freight detour uses SR 9 and SR 542 (Mount Baker Highway/Sunset Drive). We have portable electronic message signs in Skagit County reminding freight and other travelers about this,” he said.
Several Bellingham Public Schools campuses are in the detour zone, but Fairhaven Middle School seems to be feeling the worst effects, schools spokeswoman Dana Smith told The Herald. The school is near the intersection of Chuckanut Drive/12th Street and Old Fairhaven Parkway.
“Our transportation team has seen an uptick in traffic causing slowdowns on some roads that are being used for the I-5 detour, including Lake Whatcom Boulevard/Cable Street/Lakeway Drive, Chuckanut Drive, and surface roads near Lake Samish. Our transportation team is well used to dealing with traffic, road closures and inclement weather, and they are adjusting as needed,” Smith said in an email. “Because Chuckanut Drive is being used as the primary detour right now, traffic near Fairhaven Middle School is predicted to be most congested. Per a request from the city of Bellingham, we communicated with Fairhaven families (Tuesday) regarding traffic near their school.”
Whatcom Transportation Authority bus service is seeing some delays, but no routes have been canceled, WTA spokeswoman Maureen McCarthy told The Herald.
“Route 80X (express bus to Skagit County) is on detour, however it’s not missing any stops. The primary impact is delays. As for 533 (Yew Street Road), we’re also not missing any stops. We’re also experiencing sporadic delays there,” McCarthy said in an email.
Bellingham Police conducted special patrols on Samish Way “to address the increased traffic resulting from the landslide closure of I-5” at 11:38 p.m. Monday, according to the online police activity log.
Samish Way normally carries 5,300 cars and trucks daily near Lake Padden, according to a 2023 city of Bellingham traffic survey. Average daily traffic is 13,100 vehicles at Lincoln/Elwood where Samish Way crosses over I-5, and 5,800 cars and trucks daily on Chuckanut Drive near Fairhaven Middle School.
Access to Lake Padden Park and and the Galbraith mountain-biking trails have been affected by heavy traffic, observers told The Herald.
Neighbors are affected as well, including Heidi Kenyon, who lives on 38th Street, just off Samish Way.
“The freight traffic is too heavy for Samish Way. (WSDOT) says this in their communications, but nothing is being done to insist that freight traffic take the alternate route, Highway 9. I drove up from Seattle yesterday. The signage on I-5 says that freight traffic should take this route, but not that it must. The city of Bellingham and its taxpayers are going to be responsible for repairing damage to Samish Way caused by these heavy trucks. The city should work with the state to force freight traffic to use the alternate route provided or be ticketed and fined,” Kenyon said in an email to The Herald and several city officials.
Kenyon said that semis exiting the freeway at Samish Way should be forced to turn around and head south to the designated frieght detour.
Public Works Department spokesman Connor Harron told The Herald in an email that “the city is doing what we can to help address these concerns. The city is focused on mitigating impacts on local streets, and we’ve taken several steps to help manage increased traffic on local roads.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 5:20 AM.
