MARYSVILLE — A 12-foot-long pothole on northbound I-5 Sunday morning flattened tires, caused cars to bottom out and created a 4-mile backup.
Callers began reporting the problem to the Washington State Patrol about 8 a.m. “We got at least six calls from people with flat tires,” said trooper Mark Francis. “Who knows if there was undercarriage damage?”
A truck driver reported temporarily losing control as he drove through the area, Francis said.
Initially two lanes of traffic were blocked.
Traffic problems were compounded when an ambulance hit the back of a car in the stop-and-go traffic, although damage to the car was reported to be minor, he said.
The pothole was about seven inches deep and three feet wide, said Danielle Holstein, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation. The morning’s heavy rain may have been a contributing factor.
Repairs crews began work about 9:30 a.m. on a temporary patch and continued into the afternoon. A permanent patch will be installed later, she said.
The backup began to decrease around noon when traffic was opened on one of the two closed lanes.
The pothole was near the area where repair work has been ongoing to the roadway and expansion joints known as the Snohomish County squeeze. About 88,000 cars drive through the area daily, Holstein said.
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