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Southbound Interstate 5 at DuPont may not reopen by Tuesday night and could remain closed for several days after a deadly Amtrak derailment Monday morning, WSDOT said Tuesday.
WSDOT spokesman Travis Phelps said the clean-up of the rail cars and the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is continuing.
Officials started removing train cars from the roadway and rail overpass Tuesday morning. The Washington State Patrol says the cars will be transported northbound in the closed southbound lanes of I-5, exiting at Steilacoom-DuPont Road. That's expected to happen sometime Tuesday.
Once the cars are removed, crews will assess the roadway to make sure it is safe. It's possible the roadway would need to be repaired before opening to traffic, but crews won't know until the cars are cleared.
A detour is established at Center Drive and I-5 with traffic driving through Joint Base Lewis McChord to State Route 510. However, the Mounts Road Gate will be closed Tuesday morning.
Local traffic only can use a detour at Center Drive through JBLM to State Route 510 on Tuesday, WSDOT said in a blog post. JBLM will handle traffic control on the base and WSP is handling traffic control outside the base.
c="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">Mounts Road entrance to Ft. Lewis is closed and not reopen for morning traffic. Military people that use that entrance will have to use DuPont or Main Gate. Trooper Nelson
— Trooper Brooke Bova (@wspd1pio) December 19, 2017
Heavy traffic is expected on any alternate routes and WSDOT is encouraging everyone to only travel if needed. Phelps said that the alternate routes cannot handle the amount of traffic that I-5 sees every day.
Another alternate route for drivers traveling south would be to take State Route 16 to State Route 3. Drivers could also take State Routes 507, 510, or 7 on the east side of I-5.
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“We’re already seeing significant congestion on SR 507 and SR 7, and do not recommend travelers take SR 302,” Washington State Patrol said in a blog post.
Northbound traffic is encouraged to stay on I-5 and not exit at Center Drive.
WSP advises drivers to avoid both southbound and northbound I-5 near DuPont until further notice.