Southbound I-5 in Tacoma reopened after wrong-way crash shuts down freeway
May 10, 2026, 9:19 AM | Updated: 12:46 pm
A wrong-way driver that caused a crash at S. 72nd in Tacoma has shut down all lanes of southbound traffic. (Photo courtesy of WSDOT)
(Photo courtesy of WSDOT)
Traffic is moving once again on southbound I-5 in Tacoma, following a wrong-way crash near S. 84th St. that injured several people.
All four lanes of the freeway were shut down after the crash, just after it occurred at around 8:00 a.m.
Troopers kept the freeway closed for several hours, finally reopening the freeway around noon on Sunday.
During the closure, all southbound drivers were forced to exit at S. 72nd St., and asked to find alternate routes around the crash site.
Trooper Kameron Watts reported four people were taken to local hospitals, with three sustaining serious injuries.
State patrol officers investigate a wrong-way crash on I-5 that shut down all southbound lanes of traffic. Several people were injured in the crash. (Photo: Washington State Dept. of Transportation)
Police say the collision was caused by a driver headed north in the southbound lanes.
That caused a crash at Milepost 128, near S. 84th St.
At the same time, another collision in the northbound lanes also blocked traffic going the opposite direction.
The two left lanes of northbound I-5 were blocked, due to that second crash.
