Police reopen I-5 through Bellingham after second closure in two days for ‘police activity’
For the second time in two days, Interstate 5 through Bellingham was closed in both directions on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 21 for “police activity.” It has since been reopened.
The Washington State Department of Transportation reported the closure between Sunset Drive (milepost 255) and Meridian Street (milepost 256) in a tweet at 12:58 p.m., reporting that the incident was blocking all lanes.
“The State Patrol and Bellingham Police have arrived on the scene,” a WSDOT alert stated.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Jacob Kennett tweeted that the freeway was blocked for “police activity.”
“Please avoid the area and find alternate routes. I’ll be working the scene so I’ll provide updates when I can. Thank you for your patience,” Kennett wrote.
At 1:25 p.m., Kennett tweeted that southbound lanes had been reopened, with northbound lanes opening three minutes later.
WSDOT traffic cameras at the time of the closure showed southbound traffic on I-5 being taken off the freeway at Meridian Street and northbound traffic backed up beyond Lakeway.
The Bellingham Herald has asked the Bellingham Police Department for more information about why the freeway was closed Tuesday.
The closure comes almost 24 hours after police had to close the freeway in both directions between the Iowa and Sunset exits for approximately an hour on Monday afternoon. Bellingham Police tweeted that that incident ended after a person was taken into protective custody.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 1:19 PM.
