Collision closes Parks Highway

The Parks Highway was closed Sunday afternoon while EMS personnel and Troopers responded to a vehicle collision.

According to Trooper reports, a vehicle driven by a 22 year old Palmer man cut through a parking lot in order to turn from Hatcher Pass Road onto the Parks Highway. He pulled into the path of a northbound tractor pulling 2 trailers. The semi struck the car and the driver of the car was ejected. The tractor and the first trailer turned over and slid approximately 200 feet.

The owner and operator of the tractor trailer, Daryl Spaeth of Anchorage, as well as the driver of the car, Lionel Goodrich, were both taken via ambulance to Mat Su Regional with non-life-threatening injuries.

The tractor-trailer leaked about 100 gallons of diesel and Alaska’s DEC team responded to the scene.

Traffic was rerouted through the parking lot while the investigation continued.

Troopers report five vehicle crashes in the Willow area on Sunday. Two were attributed to drivers falling asleep at the wheel and the others were attributed to impatient drivers in the slick, rainy conditions. No significant injuries occurred in any of the accidents.