SEATTLE — A morning crash on southbound Interstate 5 caused major traffic backups that lasted for hours well into the afternoon.
All lanes were reopened some time after 2 p.m., according to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). Trooper Rick Johnson with the Washington State Patrol confirmed that no major injuries were reported as a result of the collision.
WSDOT first alerted drivers to the crash around 5:30 a.m. Heavy traffic delays continued through the early afternoon even after crews cleared the scene.
State transportation officials confirmed the incident caused no physical damage to the roadway and did not impact the ongoing Revive I-5 project construction.
Commuters and nearby residents experienced severe congestion throughout the day.
Xander Thomas, an apartment resident who works near the freeway, watched the traffic build up from his window.
“I work in the apartments over there, and I can see out, and it’s all jammed up,” Thomas said. “It’s like gridlock.”
Driver Christine Grant said her travel time was significantly extended during the morning hours.
“We were driving from Lynnwood to Seattle, and it took us 40 minutes,” Grant said.
The severe delays prompted some drivers to consider alternative regional transit options.
Grant reflected on potential transit alternatives while sitting in traffic.
“I was thinking how we could have gotten on the light rail and probably done that in half the time,” Grant said. “And kind of wishing we had better public transportation systems.”
The backup led to questions about whether state officials could have opened or reversed the I-5 express lanes to relieve traffic.
Tom Pearce, a spokesperson for WSDOT, explained that altering express lane directions is a complex logistical operation rather than an immediate fix.
“It takes time to clear the express lanes, make sure everything is closed, everything is empty before we can reopen in the opposite direction,” Pearce said. “It would require pulling crews from other work to go out and close the express lanes. So it’s not a simple process of flipping a switch.”
Pearce noted that reversing express lanes is reserved for extreme scenarios involving prolonged total highway blockages.
“If we had the freeway lanes fully blocked as we did a few years ago when a truck caught fire was carrying dangerous gases, we determined all lanes were going to be closed for at least several hours that was a case where we did flip the express lanes,” Pearce said.
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