Construction crews realign southbound I-5 through Tacoma

The drive through Tacoma on Interstate 5 continues to evolve.

The latest change is on southbound I-5 just uphill from the Tacoma Dome, where crews over the weekend reconfigured the lanes and reopened the on-ramp from Pacific Avenue, which had been closed since late March.

The new lane shifts mean:

▪ Motorists heading to southbound I-5 from both Interstate 705 and Pacific will use the South 38th Street collector-distributor lanes to connect to the freeway south of state Route 16.

▪ Southbound I-5 drivers headed to either South 38th Street or westbound state Route 16 need to merge right near the Dome for re-routing onto the 38th Street collector-distributor.

That new merge for state Route 16 and South 38th Street can sneak up on drivers.

Drivers in both directions should anticipate lane closures between South M Street and Portland Avenue during nighttime hours Monday (April 18), Tuesday and Wednesday.

Coming Thursday, drivers northbound can expect to be detoured off I-5 and onto the parallel collector-distributor system from 11:59 p.m.-4 a.m. Friday and detoured via either I-705 or state Route 7.

Various ramp closures also will be in effect all week. A full list of closures and other information is available at tacoma traffic.com.

The work is part of a project to replace pavement and widen the freeway in anticipation of carpool lanes.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Construction crews realign southbound I-5 through Tacoma."