BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A semi-truck and trailer rolled while attempting to enter the southbound lanes of I-5 at Sunset Drive early this morning, Tuesday, August 15th, shortly after 3am. The resulting mess and cleanup closed both southbound lanes and diverted traffic onto side streets through Bellingham.
According to emergency services radio transmissions at the time, the driver was able to climb out of the semi-truck and was not injured. No other vehicles were reportedly involved.
As of 7am, all southbound lanes remained closed according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. A signed detour is in place via James Street that returns southbound traffic to I-5 at the Ohio Street interchange.
Semi rollover on SB I-5 @ Sunset Drive | #Bellingham
ALL lanes and on-ramp remain blocked at Sunset Drive.
Crews are still working to clear debris.
People should continue to use the detour in place:
South on James St➡️south on Iowa St➡️east on Ohio St➡️back to SB I-5 pic.twitter.com/XMsFoo4DCZ
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Southbound traffic on I-5 was backed up for over 2 miles as of 7:45am.
According to WSDOT traffic cameras as of 7:45am, the truck and trailer were uprighted and much of the spilled load moved to the shoulder of the road.
UPDATE: About 8:25am, both southbound lanes of I-5 were reopened to traffic while the southbound on-ramp at Sunset Drive remained closed while work continued to remove the debris. No estimate was available for when the on-ramp would be reopened. By this time the traffic backup on I-5 extended 3 miles to the W Bakerview Road interchange.