The Washington State Patrol (WSP) said a fatality collision involving a motorcycle and a WSDOT vehicle closed westbound I-90 at milepost 52, near Snoqualmie Pass, Wednesday afternoon, August 31st.
According to WSP Trooper Rick Johnson (via Twitter) two people were riding on the motorcycle, with one of the riders deceased. Johnson stated that a DOT truck had been hit, but the details were not clear early on.
Troopers responded to the area near milepost 47 (Denny Creek), about 5 miles west of the Snoqualmie Pass summit, around 12:30PM.
According to a WSP accident report, the Harley Davidson motorcycle was approaching milepost 47 when an unknown vehicle made an abrupt stop and caused it to lose control and slide into a WSDOT truck performing roadwork. The truck was with other fully marked DOT vehicles doing work in the area. The motorcycle came to a rest on the right shoulder.
The 66-year old male motorcycle driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center. His 62-year old female passenger died at the scene. Both were from Maple Valley.
Westbound I-90 remained closed at milepost 52 until approximately 3PM while detectives investigated the accident and crews can cleaned up the scene.
According to WSDOT, traffic was detoured past the collision scene via the off and on ramps near the area. Travel times between Ellensburg and North Bend were delayed nearly an hour due to the at least 4-mile backup resulting from the closure.
