Drivers who need to cross the White River Bridge near Enumclaw to reach their valentine Sunday morning, Feb. 14, should plan ahead and leave early or risk being late for their date.

Washington State Department of Transportation maintenance crews will close one lane of State Route 410/Enumclaw-Buckley Road across the White River Bridge from 6:30to 10 a.m. for bridge inspection work. Flaggers will alternate traffic across the bridge in the open lane.

In April 2015, WSDOT bridge engineers discovered severe damage to the overhead steel truss during a routine inspection and closed the structure for seven days while temporary repairs were completed. Engineers believe an over height load struck the bridge in the westbound lane. This follow up inspection will evaluate the condition of the temporary repairs ahead of scheduled permanent repairs this spring.

Next steps

Drivers should plan ahead for a week-long detour for permanent repair work beginning Friday evening, April 15 until Saturday morning, April 23. The detour route is the same one used during the 2015 emergency closure.

The April closure dates were proposed by the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce and state Sen. Pam Roach during a November meeting with WSDOT. This closure schedule takes into consideration extensive feedback from local businesses and coincides with the projected end of the ski season at Crystal Mountain.

“We know there’s never a good time to close a road, so we worked with local leaders to find the least disruptive time for this crucial repair work,” said WSDOT Project Engineer Mike Askarian.

Traffic may occasionally alternate through a single lane across the bridge in the days leading up to and after the weeklong closure. No other full closures are planned.

In the Puget Sound area, drivers can get real-time traffic information on their phone with the WSDOT traffic app, by tracking the WSDOT traffic Twitter feed, and get advanced information from the What’s Happening Now page.