4-vehicle crash injures 2, snarls traffic
A four-vehicle crash along U.S. 2 at Reserve Drive caused a dump truck to spill a load of gravel, blocking all but a single northbound lane of traffic at around 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The accident snarled traffic for a couple of hours as after-work commuters were rerouted to alternate roads, creating gridlock on roads such as Rose Crossing and Whitefish Stage Road. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Emergency responders at the scene of a four-vehicle crash that caused a dump truck to spill a load of stone along U.S. Highway 2 at Reserve Drive in Evergreen on Tuesday, Aug. 20. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
A four-vehicle crash late Tuesday afternoon near the intersection of U.S. 2 and West Reserve Drive in Evergreen sent two people to the hospital and snarled traffic for nearly two hours.
The accident was caused by the driver of a pickup truck who pulled out of the Town Pump gas station in front of a northbound dump truck full of gravel as the pickup driver was attempting a left-hand turn, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper James Hawkins. The impact caused the dump truck to roll onto its passenger side, and it then slid into a southbound pickup on U.S. 2. The initial pickup collided with a southbound passenger car.
The driver of the initial pickup, along with the driver of the dump truck, were transported by ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, the trooper said.
Speed and alcohol were not factors in the crash, and everyone involved was wearing a seatbelt, he added.
The accident happened just before 5 p.m. as the roadways filled with after-work commuters. Cleaning up the spilled load of gravel took time, and traffic was rerouted to alternative roads but created near gridlock conditions for a while on roads such as Whitefish Stage Road, Rose Crossing and other neighborhood routes.
Citations were issued, the trooper said. The roadway on U.S. 2 was reported clear at 6:45 p.m.