Updated 2:55 p.m.
Photo courtesy Casey McNerthney, seattlepi.com
Hearing helicopters?
At 11:45 a.m. today (Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011), WSDOT reported that a collision was blocking all lanes of southbound I-5 at Lake City Way.
Traffic on SB I-5 at 12:03 p.m. Photo courtesy Casey McNerthney, seattlepi.com.
By 12:05, the left lane was open to traffic, but WSDOT advised that “drivers should still use alternates like I-405 and SR 99.” At 12:30, the seattepi.com’s Casey McNerthney tweeted “if you’re trying to get on southbound I-5, sneak on the 65th onramp,” and WSDOT said that traffic was backed up nearly 3 miles to NE 130th. By 1:42, they reported that only one right lane was blocked , but that backups now extended past 130th.
Finally, at 2:48, SDOT tweeted this update: “Woohoo! All lanes open SB 5 at Lake City Way. Backup about a mile to Northgate.”
“According to police,” reports seattlepi.com, “the crash followed a police chase initiated in Snohomish County.”
Snohomish County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said the suspect was wanted for an assault, according to Casey McNerthney. More details about the police chase can be found on kirotv.com and seattlepi.com.
KOMO 4, KIRO 7, and KING 5 all sent helicopters to the scene to cover the crash. Uncut video shot by KIRO can be seen here.
From KING 5 News: “Video from SkyKING showed a jeep on its side and a minivan facing the wrong way along the embankment.”
Onlookers, 12:19 p.m. Photo courtesy Casey McNerthney, seattlepi.com.
