POULSBO – Two Port Townsend residents were flown to a Seattle hospital Wednesday after an SUV changed lanes into their vehicle, sending them spinning into a tree.

The collision on State Route 3 occurred shortly before 3 p.m., just south of Sherman Hill Road and blocked the northbound lane for about an hour,

according to a statement from the Washington State Patrol.

The 57-year-old Bremerton woman driving the Land Rover made an unsafe lane change and struck the Port Townsend couple’s Chevrolet Malibu. The Chevrolet veered off the roadway into heavy brush and trees.

The driver of the Chevrolet, 60, and the passenger, 49, were flown to Harborview Medical Center for treatment, according to the State Patrol statement.

Jody Matson, spokeswoman for the Poulsbo Fire Department, said the woman was driven to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton.

A nursing supervisor at Harborview said at 5 p.m. that she had no record of either Port Townsend resident being admitted.

The driver of the SUV was not injured. She was cited for making an unsafe lane change, according to the State Patrol statement.

A state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said the accident caused a mile-and-a-half backup on State Route 3. The northbound lanes were reopened to traffic by 4 p.m.