Tag: interstate 5
By Caleb Hutton
Updated at 6 p.m. See bottom of this post.
A rollover crash on northbound Interstate 5 on Monday evening, Nov. 26, sent one woman to St. Joseph hospital with minor injuries and caused a long traffic jam south of the Sunset Drive exit.
Rollover crash at NB I-5 & Sunset. Unknown injuries. Expect delays and keep an eye on the WSDOT traffic cams. #bellingham
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
Long backups from NB I-5 rollover crash near Sunset. Here’s a shot from the Iowa St exit, courtesy of @wsdot_traffic twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
Dispatchers unsure if there’s anyone trapped. Ambulances en route.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
It’s a two-car crash, blocking one lane of NB I-5, a little south of Sunset. Here’s the view from the Lakeway exit. twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
At this point, we heard a report of a 20-year-old “slumped over on the ground” at the scene. That didn’t sound good.
But Washington State Patrol Trooper Mark Francis told me minutes later all injuries were minor. One person was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph hospital as a precaution.
@wastatepatrol trooper reports one person taken to hospital w/minor injury in I-5 crash. Crash blocked left lane. twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
Traffic was still stalled more than a half hour later.
Update: Here’s the narrative, as told by Trooper Francis:
A Chevy Cavalier was tailing a Ford Mustang at 5 p.m. in the left lane of northbound I-5, just south of Sunset Drive. The Ford slowed for traffic up ahead. The Chevy didn’t slow down in time.
The Chevy driver swerved left to avoid a rear-end crash. But it clipped the back left corner of the other car. The Chevy flipped and went hurtling into a cement barrier.
One person in the Chevy was taken to St. Joseph hospital with neck pain. Nobody else was hurt.
By Caleb Hutton
An equipment trailer with an excavator on it rolled over on the Interstate 5 southbound on-ramp at Sunset Drive on Wednesday morning, Nov. 7.
The trailer, hauled by a dump truck, tipped over about 9:35 p.m. a.m.
Nobody was hurt, but traffic moved slowly. The southbound on-ramp was still closed a half an hour later, at the time of this posting.
Update at 1:03 p.m. Department of Transportation crews cleared the scene two minutes ago.
This photo comes from Herald reader Carol Howard.
And for some perspective, here are a few traffic cam photos, courtesy of the state Department of Transportation.
By Caleb Hutton
For update, see bottom of this post.
Two pickups A pickup and a car collided on southbound Interstate 5 near Nulle Road on Friday afternoon, sending two people to St. Joseph hospital and causing backups reported as more than four miles long.
The driver of a pickup changed lanes about 3:40 p.m. without seeing the other pickup car, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary. They collided, and the second truck Toyota Camry was sent off the roadway and into the median.
We tweeted it as news came over the police scanner:
#Policescanner: Rollover injury crash SB I-5 near south Lake Samish at Nulle Road. Be aware of possible traffic delays. #Bellingham
— Bellingham Herald (@BhamHerald) September 28, 2012
Via @wastatepatrol: Single pickup on its top blocking one lane of SB I-5 at Nulle Road near Lake Samish. #Bellingham
— Bellingham Herald (@BhamHerald) September 28, 2012
#Policescanner: Two people in pickup trapped, unknown injuries, in crash on I-5 near Nulle Road. Watch for SB traffic delays. #Bellingham
— Bellingham Herald (@BhamHerald) September 28, 2012
#Policescanner: 4-5 mile backup on SB I-5 at Nulle Road near Lake Samish. If you’re headed south, alternate routes advised. #Bellingham
— Bellingham Herald (@BhamHerald) September 28, 2012
Two people in the struck truck Camry were taken to the hospital. Their injuries were “minor,” Leary said. Nobody in the other truck was hurt.
Both lanes were open an hour later.
Don’t think we’ll get details about the ages, genders and names of the people involved before the weekend. But if we do, I’ll try to update this post.
Update at 7 p.m. The injured pair was identified by state patrol as Dennis Schlecker, 65, and Barb Schlecker, 62, of Surrey, B.C. The driver of the Nissan Titan that switched lanes, Britta K. Lang, 48, of Anacortes, will be cited for a traffic infraction. Everyone was wearing a seatbelt. Troopers don’t think drugs or alcohol were involved.
By Caleb Hutton
The (Everett) Herald has the story.
ARLINGTON — A 23-year-old Tulalip woman was struck and killed early Tuesday morning while reportedly attempting to walk across southbound I-5 near Arlington.
It happened about 12:40 a.m., near where the highway crosses the Stillaguamish River.
…
(The woman, identified as Tara R. Olson,) reportedly drove away from the scene of (an earlier) crash. She was southbound on the highway when she got out of her van and began walking for an unknown reason, Leary said.
Olson was struck by a Ferndale man, 26, driving a Toyota Celica, police said. She died at the scene. The Ferndale man was not injured.
Troopers believe she may have been drinking, according to the Everett newspaper.
By Samantha Wohlfeil
BLAINE – A Washington State Patrol trooper saved a seagull sitting on the center line of Interstate 5 from an unpleasant fate Monday, July 30.
The gull had a broken wing and was unable to leave the freeway about 1/4 mile south of the U.S.-Canadian border.
Trooper Bart Maupin rescued the bird and put it in the back of his patrol car.
While en route to the Northwest Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Deming, Maupin told the bird to move to the shoulder or nearest branch next time to avoid getting hit.
The bird got a taste of a day in the life of the state patrol when Maupin had to interrupt their trip to the wildlife center to assist another trooper with locating a driver who ran during an arrest. The gull got to enjoy the view from the back of the patrol car while Maupin and the trooper located the suspect.
It’s unknown how long it will take for the wing to heal.
Below, a picture of Maupin and his new feathered friend:
By Caleb Hutton
A crash on northbound Interstate 5 involving a minivan, a pickup and two cars stalled traffic for about an hour south of Ferndale late Thursday, July 26, but nobody suffered serious injuries.
About 9:45 p.m., a northbound Mazda minivan in the left lane was slowing down to let traffic merge, just south of the Slater Road exit, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary.
(Because of construction, the right lane was blocked off with big, orange traffic cone barrels.)
A Ford pickup behind the Mazda didn’t slow down in time and clipped the back left corner of the minivan, Leary said.
That caused a chain reaction: The minivan spun off to the right side of the road. The driver of an approaching Volvo F80 slammed on the brakes. The Volvo spun out and went into the median. A Honda Civic skidded into some debris on the freeway.
Both lanes were blocked until about 11 p.m.
One person was taken to St. Joseph hospital as a precaution, for something that “really wasn’t even an injury,” Leary said.
The Ford driver, who is from Acme, was ticketed for speed too fast for conditions — a blanket infraction that can be used for traffic and weather conditions.
“People, once they’re in a construction zone, need to slow down,” Leary said. “We’re thankful there were no workers there at the time.”
In Washington state, fines double in a construction zone. Crews have been installing fiber optic cables along that stretch of Interstate 5.
The Mazda and the Honda had British Columbia plates. The Volvo driver was from Bellingham.
By Caleb Hutton
An update on the reopening of the Interstate 5 on-ramp at Samish Way, via state Department of Transportation spokesman Dustin Terpening:
@BhamHerald Samish ramp update: Finished striping last night. Cleaning up equipment and expect to open early afternoon. #bellingham
— Dustin Terpening (@Terpening) June 28, 2012
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