37 vehicle accident halts Glenn Highway traffic with no fatalities

PALMER — An accident involving 37 vehicles shut down part of the Glenn Highway January 24.

According to online dispatch records, Alaska State Troopers received a report that multiple vehicles collided in the southbound lanes of the Glenn Highway, near Mile 30 around 10:35 a.m. Thursday morning.

Investigation revealed that a driver on the Knik River bridge attempted heavy braking to avoid hitting another vehicle in the same lane but the vehicle lost traction on the icy bridge and spun out of control. Another vehicle in the same southbound lane collided with the spinning vehicle.

According to Troopers, there was thick layer fog with only one vehicle-length of visibility during the collision.

Additional vehicles continued to collide at the scene, starting a chain reaction of rear-end collisions as drivers attempted to avoid hitting each other.

According to Troopers, 37 vehicles were involved with the accident and a number of people were injured.

Some people were transported to local area hospitals, and no life-threatening injuries were reported during the day of the incident.

Both directions of traffic were redirected to the Old Glenn Highway while first responders attended to the scene.

The northbound lanes of the Glenn Highway opened shortly after 1:00 p.m. and the southbound lanes opened at 2:15pm Thursday afternoon.

Troopers are asking anyone involved in the collisions who haven't been interviewed by law enforcement to call 907-352-5401 and reference the case number AK24007954.

Troopers also encourage drivers to stay vigilant of foggy and icy conditions on the highways and make adjustments to their driving accordingly.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com