BOTHELL, Wash. — All lanes of northbound I-405 have reopened near State Route 527 in Bothell after a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Incident Response Team (IRT) truck was struck Wednesday morning.
The WSDOT truck was struck by another vehicle on Wednesday morning. The toll lane and left general purpose lane of I-405 were closed for hours. WSDOT is asking drivers to proceed with caution, as it will take time for the 6-mile backup stemming from the incident to clear.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Rick Johnson said the IRT truck was responding to an earlier crash when it was struck. IRT crews had closed one lane of I-405 due to the earlier crash, but a woman driving a van ran through the cones and struck the WSDOT vehicle, Johnson said.
The WSDOT first reported a crash in the area around 9:15 a.m. Johnson said the WSDOT truck was hit just after 10 a.m.
The WSDOT tweeted at 11:17 a.m. that northbound I-405 "won't be clear for a while and drivers should expect delays." Johnson tweeted just before 12:30 p.m. that it could take an additional two hours to clear the crash. A tow truck arrived on the scene to clear the incident at 2:30, and the crash was cleared just after 3 p.m.
A WSDOT crew member was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The woman driving the van was also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Johnson said the woman is under investigation for suspected impairment.
The department said the IRT worker who was taken to the hospital had previously been injured in a work zone crash, “just doing his job trying to help people stay safe on the highway.”
“Not sure how else to say it. If you're going to operate a vehicle, be sober, be alert, be focused,” WSDOT tweeted.