I-5 reopened at Chehalis

Published 12:22 pm Friday, January 9, 2009

CHEHALIS — The state Transportation Department says Interstate 5 reopened at noon today at Chehalis.

Waiting freight trucks are the first to roll on the freeway that was closed Wednesday evening by flooding.

A spokeswoman, Melanie Coon, says many of the trucks carry perishable goods, including live chickens.

The freeway has been closed by flooding since Wednesday evening along a 20-mile stretch from Chehalis to south of Olympia.

The department says that stretch of I-5 is used by about 10,000 trucks a day, and closing the freeway costs shippers about $4 million a day.