Seward Highway closed at MP 43.5 after crash Thursday evening

The Seward Highway closed at Milepost 43.5 Thursday evening after a vehicle crash, according to an Alaska 511 alert from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

The department issued the closure at 9:34 p.m. UTC, rating it high importance and listing the Kenai Peninsula region as the affected area. Emergency responders were on scene. The estimated reopening time was 10:35 p.m. UTC, about one hour after the alert went out.

The closure came on the eve of the July 4 holiday weekend, when the corridor between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula carries heavy traffic.

The highway has seen repeated disruptions in recent days. Anchorage Police reported a separate multi-vehicle crash near mile 116.7 on July 1 that shut the road during the investigation. The highway reopened at about 4:30 p.m. that day. A detour using Old Seward Highway to Potter Valley Road was established for that incident.