Caltrans subcontractor killed, another seriously injured in I-5 crash in Sacramento
A construction worker was killed and another seriously injured in a crash Wednesday evening on Interstate 5 in Sacramento, near the Land Park neighborhood, authorities said.
A Toyota Sienna minivan traveling on northbound I-5 around 6:30 p.m. struck the two workers, who were setting up cones and a sign to mark night work at the Sutterville Road off-ramp, according to Caltrans officials and the California Highway Patrol’s South Sacramento office.
The van hit the workers’ pickup truck as well as the two workers, who were outside of the truck. One worker was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was taken to a hospital with major injuries, according to a CHP news release.
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office identified the worker who died as 34-year-old Roseann Mary Guzman of Wheatland. The injured worker is a 54-year-old Sacramento man, according to the CHP.
The driver of the van was a 30-year-old man from Washington state. He was not injured.
CHP officials said the Toyota was believed have been traveling in the No. 2 or No. 3 lane of northbound I-5, meaning the vehicle swerved across three or four lanes before ending up in the right shoulder.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but drugs and alcohol are not suspected as factors, and the Toyota driver was not arrested, according to the CHP news release.
The two workers were subcontracted by Caltrans, according to Dennis Keaton, a local Caltrans spokesman.
“Our hearts are heavy just thinking of the devastation this has caused their families, the contractor and highway workers in general,” Amarjeet Benipal, director of Caltrans District 3, said in a prepared statement.
Benipal said the crash happened as the two contractors were setting up signage on the right shoulder.
According to the CHP, the pair were outside of their pickup truck setting up cones and a changeable message sign, and they were “completely within the right shoulder” at the time they were struck.
The three right lanes of northbound I-5 were closed until after 3 a.m. Thursday as CHP officials investigated the crash.
Keaton said the night work was separate from “FixSac5,” a monthslong project that added a carpool lane to each direction of I-5 in Sacramento, and which Caltrans said was completed this week ahead of schedule, though Benipal’s statement said Wednesday’s fatal incident did happen within the same zone involved in that project.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 12:02 PM.
