By Paul Roberts / The Seattle Times
REDMOND — A 39-year-old Snohomish man died in a head-on collision early Monday after driving the wrong way on Highway 520 near the West Lake Sammamish Parkway exit.
Alan Lee was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred just before 4 a.m. as Lee was driving east in the westbound lanes of Highway 520 near Milepost 11, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The Subaru Forester that Lee was driving narrowly missed a tractor-trailer before colliding head-on with a Postal Service box truck, according to Trooper Rick Johnson, WSP public information officer. The truck’s 65-year-old driver was taken to Overlake Medical Center with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Both drivers were wearing seat belts.
All but one lane of westbound Highway 520 was closed for four hours after the crash.
The collision remains under investigation.
It was unclear where and when Lee entered Highway 520 and began driving the wrong way. Shortly before the crash, 911 dispatch received a call about a wrong-way driver on Highway 520 near the Interstate 405 interchange, Johnson said.
Just before the collision, Lee was driving in the left lane of westbound Highway 520. As he approached West Lake Sammamish Parkway, a westbound freight truck in the left lane was able to get out of the way in time, but the Postal Service truck was struck head-on. Lee’s Forester was totaled.
Troopers found the box-truck driver conscious and walking around, but he was taken to Overlake as a precaution.
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