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A major closure on Highway 522 through Lake Forest Park is expected to cause traffic headaches this weekend, but it’ll pay off in the long run.

Highway 522, around the northwest corner of Lake Washington, is going to be closed for a construction project to help fish migration and to prevent future flooding.

All lanes of the highway from Ballinger Way and Brookside Boulevard will be closed from Friday night through Monday morning.

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The city is replacing four culverts that run through the area and this weekend, workers are replacing the largest of them.

Project manager Erik Davido warns drivers that while a detour will be in place, expect long delays.

“You’ll be able to get around the town center, but it’ll be on neighborhood streets and there will be uniform police officers, flaggers, and signage to help drivers get through the area. But it’s going to be congested.”

Davido says the city considered spreading the project over several days, but decided that a full weekend closure was the best option.

“We looked at options for replacing that culvert in segments over several days where we’d shift the lanes over and back, but decided, in working with WSDOT and the city, that the weekend closure was the shortest and least impact to drivers and the community.”

So what’s the benefit to drivers?

“I’d call it a necessary evil, if you will,” Davido said. “We need to fix this, get it completed and then next winter, when the rains come, there will be less flooding and you’ll appreciate it. And this should alleviate those nuisance closures during flood events.”

Davido said Highway 522 routinely floods in Lake Forest Park during heavy rains, shutting down lanes without much warning.

These new culverts are designed to handle a 100-year flood event. Currently, they handle a two-year flood event.

The existing culverts are blocked in spots and Davido hopes the project will help improve fish counts.

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