Graffiti goes down while summer traffic goes up in Seattle

If you're planning some trips along I-5 through Seattle this summer, you might want to check ahead. The Washington State Department of Transportation is closing I-5 for much-needed repairs.

When repairs are done, however, drivers may notice a bit of a difference, and not just because the expansion joints have been replaced and will no longer tear up your car.

According to a statement from WSDOT:

"While some crews are chipping out old joints and replacing them, a subcontractor is painting over graffiti while we already have some lanes closed. Normally, we’d have to schedule separate lane closures to address graffiti, which is often painted in areas that are difficult to access."

"Difficult to access " is sort of the goal of a lot of graffiti. A few years back, I became fascinated by one specific graffiti tag throughout Seattle — Homer Simpson. Once I spotted Homer's face spray painted on a sidewalk near my work, I began seeing him everywhere. Near my neighborhood bar. On an abandoned building I drove by. On a dumpster.

Looking into Seattle's graffiti scene, I discovered a few things. First, Seattle had a dedicated graffiti detective, charged with keeping an eye on tags that get thrown up around town. Second, local taggers spraying up walls, streets, and bridges are, statistically, more likely to be middle class, white guys with an average age of 23.

RELATED: 'Thrill And Addiction' Of Seattle Graffiti Artists

And finally, a big concept in the graffiti scene is "buff and burn," which speaks to that "difficult to access" point that WSDOT made. It's like a calculation a tagger makes: How likely is my tag to be buffed away, plus how long will it stay up to burn into the eyes of passersby. A lot of the graffiti along I-5 has good buff and burn. It's been up for a while and it's added up.

In the four weekends that crews have been doing work on I-5 so far this summer, they've used about 300 gallons of paint to cover the graffiti. They were going through so much, crews actually ran out of paint one weekend, according to WSDOT.

Revive I-5 work began last year and is slated to continue through this summer while the skies are clear. A total of 15 weekend closures are expected, including a closure from 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 15 through 5 a.m. on Monday, July 18. As with all closures on I-5, expect traffic to be snarled throughout the region.

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