The Washington State Department of Transportation just announced that two through lanes of Interstate 5 will reopen around 5 p.m. Wednesday at the scene of Monday’s deadly train derailment south of Tacoma.
The southbound freeway has been closed for two-and-a-half days.
Two lanes of SB I-5 in DuPont will reopen at about 5 p.m. The speed limit will be 45 mph for safety. The right lane will stay closed for further repairs & we hope to reopen by Thursday AM. Please be cautious once it opens.— WSDOT Tacoma Traffic (@wsdot_tacoma) December 20, 2017
The massing of trucks, cranes and emergency equipment at the crash scene has thinned dramatically now that all the train debris is gone.
The remaining tasks include clearing dirt and debris pushed onto the road, fixing gouges in the concrete and replacing guardrails.
"The most difficult part of this whole process is over," WSDOT spokeswoman Claudia Bingham Baker said. "That's the good news for motorists. For us now, it is very similar to other scenes where we have cleanups after an incident on the freeway."
WSDOT hopes to have all lanes open in time for tomorrow morning’s commute.
Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network
