The northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Arlington have been cleared and reopened after a grisly early morning incident where a car struck and killed a 29-year-old woman. The crash, leading to a harrowing scene that lasted several hours, caused the thoroughfare to be shut, snarling up traffic and leaving commuters searching for alternative routes.
According to a KING5 article, the incident took place near milepost 206 at Smokey Point and was first tweeted by Trooper Kelsey Harding at 5:31 a.m., resulting in multiple hours of investigations and cleanup during which the I-5 on-ramp from State Route 531 was also closed, creating a larger disruption as morning light broke.
Washington State Patrol has identified the pedestrian as a 29-year-old woman, although her name has yet to be released to the public. Early dispatches from the scene described a distressing tableau, and there was uncertainty around whether the victim was attempting to cross the busy freeway or if they had been struck on the shoulder after a potential vehicle breakdown, as noted by KIRO 7.
According to MyNorthwest, all lanes of I-5 were reopened by 7:45 a.m. as the Washington State Department of Transportation and emergency crews concluded their on-site response to the unfortunate event before the flow of traffic gradually returned to its usual pace.
