i-5 Seattle Interstate 5 Seattle News Blog

i-5 Seattle News Blog ...

> Two trucks crash, one driver killed ... April 18/08
Two semi-trucks collided at an intersection near Everett Mall this morning, killing one driver and sending the other driver briefly to a hospital, police said. Everett police were called to the intersection of state Highway 526 and Southeast Everett Mall Way around 4:15 a.m. for reports of the crash. Officers have not determined the cause of the accident; they are looking into who had the green light, said Sgt. Robert Goetz. And Everett Mall Way is shut down from the northbound onramp in Interstate 5 to State Route 526. All lanes are expected to open in about an hour or so... cont...

> Rossi plan de-emphasizes I-5 bridge tolls ... April 15/08
In the Puget Sound area, Rossi proposes to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel, build a new eight-lane Highway 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington, widen Interstate 405 from Renton to Bellevue and build a new six-mile highway in Pierce County. His plan would tap a Sound Transit surplus to pay for high-occupancy vehicle lanes on the east side of Lake Washington. Drivers would pay tolls on the 520 bridge once it is completed in 2014... cont...

> Lakewood man killed while crossing I-5 in Seattle ... April 11/08
A 49-year-old Lakewood man was killed Thursday night when he was hit by a truck while trying to cross Interstate 5 near Airport Way in Seattle, the Washington State Patrol reported. The man died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His name has not been officially released because his family has not been notified. The truck driver, a 56-year-old Las Vegas man, was not injured, the State Patrol reported.... cont...

> INRIX Pioneers Another Traffic Industry First ... April 10/08
INRIX today introduced Nationwide Traffic Alerts on more than 100,000 miles of major arterials, freeways and highways, including the entire U.S. Interstate Highway System, with never-before availability of real-time traffic alerts highlighting abnormal traffic congestion across the nation. MapQuest and other INRIX customers intend to deliver INRIX Nationwide Traffic Alerts for major urban, interurban and rural roadways, highlighting unusual congestion wherever it may occur across the country from a myriad of sources... cont...

> Seattle's Squirrelman Given 10-Day Reprieve, RV ... April 10/08
Seattle's "Squirrelman," David Csaky, has been given 10 days to move out of his homemade tree house and into a new home, according to a report. Csaky, 52, will be given until April 18 to move out of his elaborate tree house, while neighbors have found an RV for Squirrelman, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Wednesday. City Light and the Seattle Department of Transportation own the lot, under Interstate 5... cont...

> Variable speed limits coming to Seattle's I-5 ... April 9/08
The speed limit on a six-mile stretch of Interstate 5 in Seattle will change several times a day when the state Transportation Department installs new overhead electronic signs. The department says variable speed control should help traffic flow more smoothly and prevent rear-end collisions. Four signs will be installed in the northbound lanes next year between Boeing Field and I-90. Drivers near the airport might be held to 30 mph or 40 mph to reduce the chance of them running into stop-and-go traffic downtown... cont...

> Don Bocek helped build I-5 in Seattle? ... April 9/08
Construction industry veteran Donald Bocek died March 29 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Bocek's son said his father was most proud of his firm's work leveling the ground for I-5 through the city... cont...

> Multiple-Vehicle Collision Slows I-5 Commute Traffic ... April 8/08
A multiple-vehicle collision blocked two southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Seattle during the morning commute on Tuesday, backing up traffic to Lynnwood. No one was seriously hurt in the 7 a.m. collision near Lake City Way, but Department of Transportation cameras showed traffic nearly stopped in the southbound lanes of the freeway in north Seattle... cont...

> Is viaduct traffic heading to a street near you? ... April 7/08
Moving people and goods around the construction shutdown of Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct might be done with new streetcars or trolleys, widening key city streets or even closing some freeway ramps. Ideas centered on increasing the capacity of Interstate 5 through downtown, making more traffic on side streets possible, and increasing east-west connections across the city. All or some part of the 103,000 vehicle trips on the viaduct daily would have to be diverted or eliminated during construction or after a permanent teardown... cont...

> Trooper's car hit by drunk driver; 3 injured ... April 5/08
A drunk driver slammed into the rear of a Washington State Patrol trooper's car early Saturday morning while the trooper was on a traffic stop with another drunk driver in his back seat. The trooper and two others were injured. The trooper had earlier pulled over an 18-year-old Renton resident along Interstate 5 near Fife on suspicion of drunk driving and placed her under arrest in the back seat of his 2006 Crown Victoria patrol. A civilian rider was in the front seat of the patrol car... cont...

> Electric car demo fouled by breakdown ... April 4/08
Phoenix Motorcars says its electric-powered sport-utility trucks can reach top speeds of 95 mph and travel 100 miles on just one charge -- and so this week the company's vice president of external relations flew in from Ontario, Calif., in part to show off one to the U.S. secretary of transportation, who was visiting Seattle. But Phoenix Motorcars' truck -- known as the SUT -- never made it to The Rainier Club downtown, where Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters was speaking Friday morning. The vehicle slowed to a crawl on Interstate 5 by a computer glitch, and the driver had to hitch a ride... cont...

> Officials: 66-mile chase became too dangerous ... April 2/08
The 66-mile chase that led police through three counties and reached speeds of 90 mph on Wednesday morning left some wondering why police let it go on for so long. Simply put, police say it was too dangerous. The chase began in South Everett at 3 a.m. when the driver refused to pull over for a Snohomish County deputy. When the chase ran into King County, Seattle police and the state patrol joined in. The runaway driver hit speeds of up to 90 mph on Interstate 5... cont...

> Video: Driver escapes after high speed chase on I-5 ... April 2/08
A routine traffic stop overnight Tuesday turned into a high speed chase down Interstate 5 through several counties. Deputies tried to pull over a suspected reckless driver in south Snohomish County around 3:00 a.m. when officers said he took off. The chase was captured on Washington DOT cameras as the drivers went south on I-5 through King County and into Pierce County... cont...

> Crash blocks two lanes of northbound Interstate 5 in Tacoma ... April 1/08
A multiple-vehicle crash that was blocking the two left lanes of northbound Interstate 5 near Portland Avenue this morning has been cleared, but the traffic backup remains. There were injuries as a result of the crash, the state Department of Transportation reported this morning. The severity of the injuries was not immediately known... cont...