Editor’s Note: Story updated at 3:55 pm on 5/8/26 to include new information from BPD.
BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A crisis response shut down I-5 traffic in Bellingham for roughly two hours Friday afternoon, May 8.
The city’s police and fire departments say they responded to a person in crisis near I-5 and Sunset Drive. The Bellingham Police Department (BPD) says the situation resolved itself peacefully and the person is receiving the help they need.
BPD says it decided closed the bridge and both lanes of I-5 during the response “out of an abundance of caution.”
At first, only the northbound lanes shut down around 1 pm, but the southbound lanes also closed roughly 40 minutes later, backing up traffic several miles in each direction.
Both lanes and the bridge fully reopened just before 3 pm.
