Seattle I-5 Closure: Travel Impacted Around Puget Sound

SEATTLE, WA - The closure of I-5 and I-90 near downtown Seattle due to a wrecked tanker truck was having a huge impact on traffic around the region. Cleanup could take several hours, according to the latest reports from emergency officials.

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Transportation officials are providing some tips for driving during the emergency closure:

• From Everett to Tacoma, Washington State Ferries is recommending travelers take the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston and then drive south toward SR 16
• All drivers are free to use HOV lanes to exit I-5 near downtown Seattle
• Use SR 99 or I-405 to get around the Seattle area; as of noon, traffic traveling westbound on I-90 was allowed to enter northbound I-5

Streets near downtown Seattle I-5 and I-90 exits were clogged near noon on Monday. Drivers should avoid Rainier Avenue and South Columbian Way on Beacon Hill. Many of the main avenues in the Sodo neighborhood were also seeing heavier than usual traffic.

The accident happened around 10:15 a.m. Monday morning in the collector-distributor lanes heading from I-90 to southbound I-5. The tanker truck was hauling butane and reportedly had a small leak. Fire crews were waiting on another tanker truck to arrive on scene to empty the gas from the crashed tanker.

Three people were hurt in the crash and were transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, the Seattle Fire Department said.

Underneath I-5, police were clearing homeless camps as a precaution.

Image via Washington State Department of Transportation