Whatcom highway closed after a semi ‘just kind of got sucked in’ by roadside ditch
The Valley Highway through Whatcom County was closed approximately three hours Wednesday evening after a semi truck was “sucked” into a roadside ditch in the Van Zandt area.
Fire crews and law enforcement were called at approximately 4:58 p.m. Dec. 11 to the 3200 block of Highway 9 near Strand Road for the report of a traffic collision, according to the PulsePoint app.
They arrived to find a semi that was pulling a side-dumping trailer resting on its side in a roadside ditch.
“I really don’t know how to describe what happened,” Trooper Heather Axtman told The Bellingham Herald. “It appears the semi just got too close to the edge of the roadway, and it just kind of got sucked in (to the ditch). There’s really not a shoulder there, and it just got sucked in.”
Axtman said the white line on the right side of the roadway is difficult to see in the area where the crash happened, and the ditch begins almost right where the line is.
“There is nothing beyond that white line,” Axtman said.
The driver was taken to the hospital as a precaution, Axtman tweeted, and she said Thursday she wasn’t sure if they were cited in the crash or not.
It was also unclear if the truck was hauling any material at the time of the crash, Axtman said.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 11:58 AM.
