Christopher Brewer / cbrewer@chronline.com
State Department of Ecology crews work at the scene of a crash involving a tractor-trailer and dump truck on the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 on the Mellen Street overpass at 11 a.m. Friday.
An early-morning accident involving a tractor-trailer and a dump truck on Interstate 5 caused a major traffic headache for those traveling to and through the Twin Cities this morning.
The wreck occurred in the northbound lanes of the freeway on the Mellen Street overpass at 6 a.m., overturning the tractor-trailer and spilling its contents on the freeway, which included household cleaning chemicals, according to Abbi Russell with the Washington State Department of Transportation.
As of 8:30 a.m., Interstate 5 northbound was completely closed at Mellen Street, where WSDOT Incident Response crews and Washington State Patrol troopers were guiding traffic back onto the northbound ramp. Traffic southbound on the freeway was flowing freely, but northbound traffic was backed up to near LaBree Road at 8:45 a.m., nearly seven miles south of the collision scene.
State Department of Ecology crews were on hand to clean up the mess caused by household chemicals spilled out of the semi-truck, Russell said. Crews began pulling the dump truck from the scene at 7:30 a.m., but the tractor-trailer, owned by Haney Trucking Company, remained jammed up against the center jersey barrier with a large part of its trailer sheared off, exposing the contents inside.
Russell originally gave an estimate of 9 a.m. before the freeway was due to reopen, but revised that to 10:30 a.m.
The Mellen Street interchange became a choke point for drivers trying to get back on the freeway, especially in the morning rush hour as drivers tried to get to Centralia for work and others simply tried to get through the mess. Northbound commuters clogged Centralia’s main arterials, including Kresky Avenue and Main Street, as that appeared to be the most popular alternate route chosen by drivers.
“We’re asking people to use side streets for awhile and exit the freeway northbound as early as possible,” Russell said. “We’ve been recommending people avoid Mellen if at all possible and get back on I-5 at Harrison or even farther north if they can.”
WSDOT closed Mellen Street’s southbound interchange to relieve the congestion, as it had become more severe by 8 a.m., Russell said.
Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Eric Olson reported no injuries from the crash. A command unit from their station was still on scene assisting the State Patrol at 8:35 a.m., Olson said.
For more information on this crash after press time, please check Chronline.com for updates.
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Christopher Brewer: (360) 807-8235
