What's Actually Wrong With the 164th Street Bridge Over North Creek, and Why the Lane Stays Closed Into December
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
The date most people have heard about the 164th St SE bridge is "mid-December." That date applies to the traffic setup. The City of Mill Creek's own project page says the restoration work itself starts "once the repair design is finalized," so the repair still has no schedule of its own. In practice, the cones on the eastbound side are holding a lane open for a fix that is still on the drafting table.
That changes how the next several weeks should be read. Here's the background.
The City announced the closure on Wednesday, October 21, and the traffic changes began that Friday. Here's the setup as the City describes it on the North Creek Bridge Restoration project page:
The City's notice describes no westbound lane closure. It also lists no lane changes on Bothell-Everett Highway or Mill Creek Boulevard. The City has posted a full traffic impact map for anyone who wants to see the exact lane geometry.
North Creek Presbyterian Church, at 621 164th St SE, is the landmark the City uses for the work zone. According to WSDOT's park-and-ride list, the church lot is also a 23-stall Community Transit park-and-ride. If you park there for a bus, the lane shift starts right next to your morning routine.
The trigger was an inspection. Mill Creek hired the engineering consultant Otak to do a physical field inspection of the bridge. A recent engineering evaluation then found that one of the bridge's seven support columns, on the south side of the street, is in poor condition.
On an east-west street, the eastbound lanes run along the south half, which is the same side as the flagged column. The lane the City closed is the eastbound lane next to the sidewalk, and the City says the adjustments are there to make room for construction crews and equipment.
The City's project goals also mention "temporary lane shifts and turn restrictions," and note that traffic patterns "may be modified as the project moves from planning into the construction phase." In other words, the layout drivers see now is the planning-phase layout. Once the repair design is final and crews start working, the setup could change.
The crossing is short. The City describes it as a 28-foot single span, which takes only a few seconds to drive over. Its history is longer than its length suggests.
| Year | What happened to the 164th St SE bridge |
|---|---|
| 1967 | Original bridge built, 59 feet wide |
| 1989 | 16-foot widening added on the south side |
| 2012 | Repair replaced a 13-foot section of the original timber pile cap near the southwest corner |
| Recent | Field inspection by Otak; an engineering evaluation finds one of seven south-side columns in poor condition |
Two details in that table stand out. Both the 1989 widening and the 2012 repair were on the south side, and the latest finding is on the south side too. The City hasn't said which part of the structure the poor column belongs to, so that's a question for its engineers. Still, the south side of this bridge has needed attention before, and it needs attention again now.
The 2012 entry is also a reminder of what holds up the original crossing. The pile cap is the beam that ties the supports together, and on the 1967 bridge part of it was timber. The bridge's last repair replaced a 13-foot section of that timber.
The City's headline calls these "Emergency Traffic Changes," and The Everett Herald ran its October 23 story as "Mill Creek bridge to receive emergency repairs." Even so, the City's capital projects listing still shows North Creek Bridge Restoration in "Planning," with a listed start of October 22, 2026.
These don't contradict each other. The lane change happened right away, while the repair itself has to be engineered first. That's why the lane closure arrived before the construction schedule.
The Herald quoted the City's interim public works director, Keegan Pocinwong, from the press release:
"The safety of our community is our top priority. These repairs are essential to maintaining safe travel through one of Mill Creek's most important corridors. We thank the public for their understanding and cooperation during this necessary project."
The Mill Creek Beacon also posted the lane shift and timeline on October 22.
Mid-December covers the city's two biggest street events of the season. Neither one is on 164th, but both bring traffic into Town Center, which sits on Bothell-Everett Highway half a mile north of 164th.
| Date | Event | Street impacts the City lists |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, November 11 | Veterans Day Parade, 11 a.m. to noon, southbound Main Street | No parking on Main Street from 148th Street SE to City Hall North from 10:30 a.m. to noon; 153rd Street SE closed to through traffic from 10:30 a.m. until the parade passes |
| Saturday, December 5 | Holidays on Main, noon to 6 p.m. | Santa Parade at 4 p.m. on southbound Main Street from 15024 to 15603 Main St., then the tree lighting at 5 p.m. at 15603 Main St. |
The Veterans Day and Holidays on Main pages have the full details. Veterans Day this year also comes with the newly finished Veterans Monument at Library Park, which the City set up for a community ribbon cutting. Anyone coming to Town Center for either event from the I-5 side would normally use 164th, and on those days the eastbound side is down to one through lane plus the center turn lane.
The City's notice names no impacts on the North Creek Trail, pedestrians or buses. Community Transit's Swift Green and Swift Orange lines both serve a 164th St SE station on Bothell-Everett Highway. The agency's rider alerts page is the place to check for any changes.
Alongside the immediate repair, the City says it "will also conduct a comprehensive study to determine long term solutions to guide future improvements and address increased traffic volume."
That study wasn't invented for this bridge. Mill Creek's 2023–2028 Transportation Improvement Plan, adopted in late 2022, already set aside $220,000 in the 2026 column for a Mill Creek Blvd/164th St SE Corridor Study. That plan is a programming document, not proof the study has started. It does show that 164th was already on the City's list for a closer look before this fall's lane closure.
The City's draft Comprehensive Plan explains why. It describes the Mill Creek Boulevard and Town Center South area as connected to the I-5 corridor through 164th Street SE and Bothell-Everett Highway. That's the area where the City Council approved a South Town Center master plan, zoning changes and design standards on September 1, 2026. The road that feeds future growth there crosses North Creek on a 28-foot span first built in 1967.
For updates on the bridge, check the City's project page, where an updated traffic layout should appear when the repair moves into construction.
If the work on 164th has you rethinking your daily routes, or wondering how projects like this corridor study fit into Mill Creek's plans for South Town Center, I'm glad to talk it through. I follow these City updates closely and enjoy helping neighbors make sense of what they mean. Jessica Gustelius | Let's Connect.
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