Workers repair fire-damaged freeway interchange amid gridlock
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Caltrans was racing to make repairs to a fire-damaged section of the Interstate 5-Route 2 interchange, but it was unclear when the highways would be fully reopened.
All northbound lanes of the 5 Freeway at the junction of the 2 Freeway, north of downtown Los Angeles, remained closed Sunday, a day after a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline overturned, caught fire and caused a massive traffic jam.
The two right lanes of the southbound 2 Freeway at the junction also remained closed, said Officer Ed Jacobs of the California Highway Patrol. It is unclear when any of the lanes will reopen, he said.
“We’re shooting for” Monday, he said. “We just want to make it safe.”
PHOTOS: Truck fire shuts down 5 Freeway
He said workers were shoring up the freeway tunnel where the accident occurred about 10:30 a.m. Saturday to ensure that it is structurally sound.
The closed roads forced people going to the Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium to avoid portions of the 5 and the 2.
It also jammed nearby surface streets such as Fletcher Drive, San Fernando Road, Glendale Boulevard and Riverside Drive.
Thousands of gallons of gasoline from the truck poured “a burning river of fuel” through storm drains in the Elysian Valley area, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman with the Los Angeles Fire Department. Firefighters were deployed on a mile-long stretch of the river to monitor the spill. It was unclear what kind of environmental risk the spill might pose.
Billy Wright, who was nearby at the time, rushed over on his bike.
“I was expecting a big fire, but I wasn’t expecting the river to be on fire,” he said.
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