MARYSVILLE – A sinkhole on Interstate 5 that occurred Sunday morning caused backups as long as four miles for more than five hours.
Road crews fixed the 12-foot-long hole by about 1 p.m., but the backup was still about 3 1/2 miles, the state Department of Transportation said on its Twitter feed.
The DOT called it a pothole on northbound I-5 near State Route 529 in Marysville. The right two lanes were blocked initially.
A witness said a few cars suffered flat tires from the hole before it was blocked and a detour set up around 9:30 p.m. Washington State Patrol directed traffic.
About an hour later the backup was four miles. At 11:25 a.m. two lanes were open. About an hour after that the sinkhole was filled, but needed to dry before traffic could cross it again. A half hour later traffic resumed, and all lanes were open.
The hole was about 7 inches deep and 3 feet wide.
The pothole was near where repairs are being done on expansion joints on bridges.
