Beginning on August 10th, a one-mile stretch of the northbound lanes of I-5 from Spokane Street to I-90 will become a construction zone. For 19 days, traffic will get pinched down to two lanes at times during the day, and one lanes at times overnight. The two and a half weeks of gridlock might add an hour to your commute.

The state Department of Transportation is serious when they suggest drivers take some time off from work, telecommute or use public transportation.

Highway crews will replace the steel expansion joints and resurface the northbound lanes on that mile long stretch. Those expansion joints are as old as the interstate itself - 40 years.

Bruce Nebbitt with WSDOT says the aging joints can no longer be ignored.

"Occasionally they do come loose and cause a public safety issue," he said. "Not only do drivers hear the noise, they also feel it. It's almost like a speed bump every time you hit one of these expansion joints."

Julia Mizuhata, who is also with the Department of Transportation, says drivers shouldn't hear or feel the joints.

"You shouldn't be hearing any clanking," she said.

Mizuhata is heading the $15.5 million project to replace the failing joints, resurface worn pavement, and stop that clanking.

"It'll be going on 24/7. It'll be fairly intensive," she said.

John Rescha is paid to think about ways you can avoid the inevitable traffic.

"We're going to be using the signs along the freeway telling them how long the back up is, giving them as much information as possible," he said.

The project begins when it does for a reason. There's a lull in traffic after Seafair.

"We wanted to wait until after that, but get the work done before kids go back to school," he said.

And a nine-day traffic headache is better than months of grinding your teeth in gridlock.

"It's definitely to get it done faster," Mizuhata said.

Gridlock could stretch all the way back to Southcenter through the construction site on northbound I-5. The Department of Transportation says your best bet is to take alternative routes, Rideshare or commute at off-hours. More trains and buses will be added to and from Seattle.