A crash involving a big rig and a car shut down both directions of Interstate 5 in the Mission Hills area of San Diego on Tuesday morning, sending four people in the car to a hospital and leaving cleanup work to stretch into the afternoon.
The collision was reported at around 9:44 a.m. on northbound I-5 near the Washington Street off-ramp. The California Highway Patrol said the wreck caused the big rig to go over the center divider, turning a routine morning drive into a full freeway shutdown for drivers in both directions.
Two people from the truck were evaluated at the scene and did not need to go to a hospital. No other injuries were reported, but the crash still forced a broad response because it blocked a major stretch of freeway and tied up traffic far beyond the immediate scene.
By around 4:30 p.m., authorities had reopened all southbound lanes, but the northbound No. 1, 2, and 3 lanes near Washington St. were still closed because of cleanup efforts. That left the northbound side partly shut down hours after the crash, with the cause of the collision still not immediately known.
The afternoon closure underscored how quickly one wreck can ripple through San Diego traffic when it happens on Interstate 5, especially in a busy corridor like Mission Hills. For drivers heading through the area, the day ended with one side of the freeway moving again and the other still waiting on crews to finish the job.
