Tag: traffic
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
A crash on southbound Interstate 5 near the Slater Road exit Saturday afternoon, Aug. 18, left one person with minor injuries and slowed traffic.
Report of teen injured but conscious in southbound I-5 crash, south of Slater Road exit. See
@wsdot_traffic cams. ow.ly/d46n4— Bellingham Herald (@BhamHerald) August 18, 2012
Over the police scanner, I heard an 18-year-old man had suffered an injury to his head and was bleeding, but he was conscious.
As bad as that might sound at first blush, a hurried Washington State Patrol trooper told me the injuries were minor. If the teen was taken to the hospital, it would have only been as a precaution, said Sgt. Kirk Rudeen.
Nonethless, the crash stalled traffic for at least a half an hour. Within a few minutes the right lane was reopened, and cars were able to crawl through.
Department of Transportation cams showed a big traffic jam, backed up past the Smith Road overpass. And on the scanner, it sounded like there was a “fender bender” at the same time on that very overpass.
If we end up getting a media release about the freeway crash, I’ll update this post.
By Samantha Wohlfeil
Bellingham drivers can now avoid traffic – before leaving home or while on the road – with the real-time traffic layer on Google maps.
Google announced Tuesday, Aug. 7 that they were expanding the comprehensive traffic coverage for the first time to Bellingham along with more than 130 small cities around the U. S.
The feature was previously only available for major highways in the area, but now the filter can be used for the entire city of Bellingham either on Google Maps or on the Google Maps mobile app. That means drivers stuck in traffic can now have a passenger check the traffic in real time.
In addition to offering coverage to small cities around the U. S., Google expanded coverage in countries around the world, including Canada and Mexico.
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
By Caleb Hutton
Via scanner traffic:
7:20 a.m. Two-car crash at East Main and Shuksan streets. One driver fled the scene; the other was a 20-year-old woman with arm and chest pain, possibly from an airbag deploying. She declined medical aid. Didn’t hear an update on the other driver.
8 a.m. Troopers were helping to clear mattresses from Interstate 5, near the Meridian Street exit.
8:15 a.m. Report of a fire inside a home at 154 E. Wiser Lake Road. A few minutes later dispatchers updated firefighters responding to the scene: The had been extinguished.
8:30 a.m. Dump truck and semi truck collision at Hannegan Road and Sunset Drive. No request for medical aid. Traffic was slowed but still able to get through.
9:15 a.m. Fire District 14 responding to smoke and flames in home in 6100 block of Poppy Court. We have a call out to the chief, seeking an update.
10:10 a.m. Somebody suffered a knee injury on the trails around Lake Padden, near the dog park. Fifteen minutes later, additional manpower was requested.
10:15 a.m. A group of dogs was blocking the road on Lummi Shore Drive.
11:10 a.m. Hit and run at Rite Aid, 222 Telegraph Road. An unoccupied Jeep Liberty was struck by a blue Chevy Avalanche that was towing a tan trailer, last seen southbound on Meridian Street. Nobody managed to jot down a license plate for the Avalanche.
By Caleb Hutton
Bellingham Police are in the midst of a weekly traffic emphasis patrol right now. For the next couple of weeks, more officers will be on the lookout for driving violations from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Wednesday.
A different area of town gets the emphasis patrols each week, and a different violation is the focus of the emphasis each week. (One week officers might be looking for people not wearing seat belts; another time they might be looking for expired license plate tabs.)
On Wednesday, June 13, police focused on Meridian Street, from Telegraph to Stuart roads.
Courtesy of Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young, here’s the tally of what tickets got handed out:
17 drivers without proof of insurance.
17 “non-moving” violations (expired license plate tabs, no front license plates, etc.).
12 seat belt violations.
5 texting or talking on cell phone violations.
4 equipment violations.
2 speeding tickets.
2 moving violations.
2 people driving with a suspended license.
1 warrant arrest.
In all, that’s 59 tickets, three arrests and 10 written warnings in three hours. That means police were pulling over about 24 drivers each hour during the patrols.
By Caleb Hutton
Contractors for the city will be doing annual crack sealing for the next few weeks.
Along with a press release, the city released this (detailed) map showing which roads are scheduled to get patched up this year.
From the press release:
Streets affected during the week of June 11-15 include James St. (Alabama St. to Texas St. and Iowa St. to Kentucky St.), Lincoln Ave. (Meador Ave. to Gladstone St.), Nequalicum Ave. (Eldridge Ave. to Lindberg St.), and Yew St. (Lakeway Dr. to Princeton Ct.).
The work crew and equipment will continually move from location to location. Motorists traveling through the work zones should use caution and expect minor delays. Flaggers on-site will direct drivers around intermittent lane closures. ”No Parking” signs will be posted where parking is restricted. This work is anticipated to continue in various locations throughout the City for the next six weeks, but may be extended depending on weather. Updates and road restrictions resulting from this work will be published on the City web page and provided to local media via the City’s weekly Road Report.
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