Speed limit lowered to 50 mph along stretch of I-5

TACOMA -- The speed limit along a stretch of I-5 was lowered to 50 mph Monday.

The construction zones between South 48th Street to Port of Tacoma Road on I-5 have seen crash after crash. That's why WSDOT and the Washington State Patrol are teaming up to turn things down a notch.

They're lowering the speed limit from 60 mph to 50 mph in both directions of that stretch of I-5, which has seen more than 1,500 crashes between April 2018 and March 31 of this year.

In the last six months there have been at least eight crashes involving big rigs, which caused major delays.  Speed has been a common factor in the crashes, and troopers are now out on the roads patrolling and enforcing the new speed changes.

The affected area includes two major work zones: the I-5/SR 16 realignment (HOV structure and connections) and the I-5/Portland Avenue to Port of Tacoma Road southbound HOV project.