Box truck crashes and hangs off side of Alaskan Way Viaduct
Jan 25, 2018, 2:24 PM | Updated: Jan 26, 2018, 5:31 am
The Alaskan Way Viaduct was shutdown for about two hours, and traffic suffered throughout the afternoon and evening commutes, after a box truck crashed through a barrier and came to rest hanging off of the side of the raised roadway Thursday afternoon.
The truck crashed while traveling on the lower level, southbound lanes of the viaduct. The incident occurred near First Avenue South and Railroad Way next to CenturyLink Field.
Southbound traffic was initially blocked at the Battery Street Tunnel. One southbound lane reopened around 3:30 p.m. Thursday. All lanes reopened by 7 p.m. but backups remained across the city.
The Seattle Fire Department reports that the driver was able to exit the truck safely. A tow truck was called to remove the truck from the ledge.
Seattle traffic officials said their plan to get to the closures and the on-ramp to the southbound lanes of the viaduct from Elliott were successful in relieving some of the backup issues.
The backup is reminiscent for some of the infamous fish truck crash in 2015. Drivers waited nearly nine hours behind stalled viaduct traffic in March 2015 after a semitrailer tipped over and dumped salmon all over the road.
That incident prompted the city to create a new strategy for clearing crashes.
The report called for officers to get vehicles involved in collisions out of the way without worrying about damaging them.
KIRO 7 contributed to this report.
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