Early morning wrecks shut down I-5, snarl traffic through Tacoma
Two wrecks shut down Interstate 5 in Tacoma for hours early Monday morning.
As of about 10:40 a.m., the state Department of Transportation said all lanes had reopened.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tacoma, breathe a collective sigh of relief.....all NB and all SB lanes of I-5 have reopened following earlier collision. Hopefully the rest of the day will be uneventful, at least from a traffic perspective. Thank you for your patience.</p>— WSDOT Tacoma Traffic (@wsdot_tacoma) <a href="https://twitter.com/wsdot_tacoma/status/1049353622469758976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
No one was seriously injured in the wrecks, State Patrol spokeswoman Johnna Batiste said.
The first crash happened about 2:40 a.m. on southbound Interstate 5 when a box truck heading south reportedly hit debris on the freeway, which caused the driver to lose control and hit the center barrier near state Route 16.
That sent sections of the concrete barrier into the northbound lanes of I-5.
About 35 minutes after the first wreck, troopers were responding to a second crash on northbound I-5 near South 38th Street. A semitrailer heading north wasn’t able to slow down in time for the backed up traffic, lost control and hit a concrete barrier, which pushed the barrier into the southbound lanes.
Two other northbound drivers and two southbound drivers hit concrete from the wrecks, and a northbound Ford Ranger that swerved to avoid the chunks crashed into a Dodge Charger, according to a State Patrol report.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1st crash (I5/SR16) Troopers and vehicles are clear. Barrier has substantial damage. Crews working to put it back in place. Box truck traveling SB; driver stated he struck debris, lost control and struck center barrier pushing it into NB causing multi veh crash. Minor injuries. <a href="https://t.co/laT3rTmmVJ">pic.twitter.com/laT3rTmmVJ</a></p>— Trooper Johnna Batiste (@wspd1pio) <a href="https://twitter.com/wspd1pio/status/1049280304991494144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Details of 2nd crash. Driver indicates he was unable to slow for the backup and detour in place for northbound traffic. Semi tractor, no trailer, then lost control and struck the center barrier, forcing it into the southbound lanes. No injuries or other vehicles involved. <a href="https://t.co/2t1QvyKXRe">pic.twitter.com/2t1QvyKXRe</a></p>— Trooper Johnna Batiste (@wspd1pio) <a href="https://twitter.com/wspd1pio/status/1049281490150805504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
This story was originally published October 8, 2018 at 10:19 AM.