BELLINGHAM, Wash. — First responders could be heard advising each other over emergency radio to avoid southbound lanes of I-5 today, July 6th, around 10:15am due to a quickly developing backup.
WSDOT issued an advisory about 10:30am stating the left lane of southbound I-5 near the Bakerview Road interchange was closed due to maintenance.
As of 10:30am, a 2-mile traffic backup had formed reaching north of the Slater Road interchange.
A WSDOT official said the work was to repair a damaged guard rail and it typically takes about 2 hours to make those kinds of repairs.
WSDOT officials reported at 12:10pm the lane had been reopened.
This story was updated at 11am with information from WSDOT regarding the type of work being done and the estimate for how long the lane would be close.