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...That's the latest word from the CHP on Interstate 5. Here are the latest detours:
— Northbound from Los Angeles to Bakersfield, Sacramento: Take northbound I-5 to State Route 14, continue north to State Route 58 in Mojave and head west to State Route 99.
— Southbound to Los Angeles from Sacramento, Bakersfield: Take southbound I-5 to State Route 126, continue west to State Route 101 and head south.
— Eastbound State Route 126 to the Palmdale-Lancaster area: Take northbound I-5 to State Route 138, continue east. Another route is eastbound on State Route 126, which becomes Newhall Ranch Road, continue east to Bouquet Canyon Road and then turn west. Continue westbound to Soledad Canyon Road, turn left and continue eastbound to State Route 14.
 
It's still unclear how long the I-5 closure will last. Engineers are trying to determine whether the truck fire caused structural damage to the tunnel. Above is the official detour. Also consider these two point from Caltrans and the CHP: 1) Caltrans is setting up long-term closures on on-ramps to the southbound Golden State (5) Freeway at Valencia Parkway. McBean Parkway and Lyons Avenue in Santa Clarita, the three on-ramps before the entire freeway is closed at Calgrove Boulevard. These closures are to prevent cars from entering the heavy backup.
2) California Highway Patrol officers in Ventura are reporting that trucks detouring around the 5 freeway closure are being erroneously advised by radio reports to take route 126 west to route 23 as a detour. Route 23, Grimes Canyon Road, is a steep and twisting narrow road, and trucks are getting stuck on it, Ventura CHP officers are saying. CHP officers are asking reporters to advise detouring traffic to use route 126 west all the way to U.S. 101 in Ventura, then turn south to Los Angeles there.
So, how long could the 5 be closed? It's unclear -- because the damage is still not fully determined. According to the Daily News, "a KNX radio reporter at the scene said concrete was still violently shattering in the tunnel walls and ceilings at mid-morning, as the red-hot structural steel in the tunnel walls expands and causes concrete to shatter and fall." The tunnel's structure is compromised, that would mean 10 of the 12 lanes on Interstate 5 could be closed for sometime. The two-lane northbound truck ramp would be the only unaffected structure in the pass, along with a two- lane frontage road.
How bad is it out there? Consider this comment from reader Stacy: FRIDAY NIGHT WAS A NIGHTMARE... MY FAMILY AND I WERE COMING HOME FROM ANAHEIM AND MET UP WITH THIS INTERSTATE 5 TRAFFIC AROUND 12:15a.m. WE WERE WORRIED IN A WAY FOR WHAT HAD HAPPENED BEING THAT IT WAS SO CLOSE TO HOME... WE STARTED TO GET UPSET THAT WE WERE IN SUCH A COMPLETE STOP IN THE FREEWAY...AND SO LIKE MANY PEOPLE WE JUST TURNED OFF THE CAR AND JUST WAITED... FOR FIVE HOURS!!
Interstate 5 is closed in both directions at the 14 after a major crash involving numerous big-rig trucks. The route could be closed all day: Fire Inspector Jason Hurd said the accident -- the wreckage of which stretched for half a mile -- began when two trucks collided late Friday and started a chain reaction in Interstate 5's southbound truck-only tunnels that run under the regular freeway near the intersection with the Antelope Valley Freeway. Twenty people evacuated the fiery tunnel on foot, and the 10 injured were carried out. One truck driver was unaccounted for, and authorities worried that more may be missing. (AP)
KABC-TV Channel 7 reports that fire officials still are not sure whether others may be trapped in the tunnel (there is also some fear that the fire made it structurally unsound). KABC has this picture on its website:
KNBC-TV Channel 4 is reporting that there is a major backup on the 5 in both directions and that the Old Road isn't much better. KNBC suggested a route involving the 118 to the 33 to the 126.
Officials say the rain might have been a factor in the accident. Rain fell -- heavy in spots -- overnight and caused several accidents as well as this mishap that has hampered rail service:
Metro Gold Line service will be affected today as crews remove spilled fuel and a tractor-trailer truck that crashed and landed on the train tracks in Pasadena, authorities said. Metro spokesman Marc Littman said that the truck that crashed onto the tracks was removed but that the force bent the rail of the track and would probably take until 3 p.m. to repair. Littman said the line was delayed and riders between the Allen and Sierra Madre Villa stations were bused until the truck and spilled fuel were cleared. (CNS)
The Times' Sharon Bernstein and Tami Abdollah report that street racing is taking on a dangerous new form: All told, according to state figures, nearly 100 people die each year in California as a result of illegal street racing. Detectives said they are increasingly seeing a particularly dangerous form of racing, called "cutting the gap" -- impromptu speed contests in which racers weave in and out of traffic. "It's a game of chicken -- like a real-life video game," said Det. David Millan of the Los Angeles Police Department. "They are driving souped up vehicles where their skills don't match the cars." .... The change is apparent in the San Fernando Valley, which has long been attractive to racers because of its wide streets and long straightaways. For years, groups regularly planned midnight races for Tuesdays and Sundays. But as police have tried to crack down on the organized races, they are seeing a more dangerous form, with two and sometimes more racers deciding on daytime races in which fighting the congested streets is part of the thrill. "We are seeing more incidents in which young people pull up to each other at a light, rev the engines and engage in impromptu games of chicken at high speed," Millan said.
Remember this horrible DUI case? Well, the man who slammed into a noted director and his son will spend six years in prison: A man whose blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit when his SUV slammed into a car on Pacific Coast Highway, killing film director Robert Clark and his son, has been sentenced to six years in state prison. Hector Manuel Velazquez-Nava, 25, begged for forgiveness before he was sentenced. Clark directed the holiday classic film "A Christmas Story." (CNS)
 Heads-up on this major closure in the San Gabriel Valley for much of the next week:
Portions of the Pomona (60) Freeway between the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway and the Orange (57) Freeway will be closed next week for lane construction and pavement replacement, Caltrans announced. All eastbound and westbound lanes between 7th Avenue and Hacienda Boulevard will be closed from 2-7 a.m. Sunday. Eastbound lanes between the San Gabriel River Freeway and 7th Avenue will be closed from 11:30 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday. Also on the eastbound Pomona Freeway, on- and off-ramps at Crossroads Parkway, 7th Avenue, Hacienda Boulevard, Azusa Avenue and Fullerton Road will be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., and up to four lanes from the San Gabriel River Freeway to Fullerton Road will be closed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday. (CNS)
 The The mayor says more left-turn signals are coming to L.A. -- within the next 30 days. Check out the list of intersections by clicking below (mostly in the Valley and LAX area):
Drivers tired of getting stuck in the middle of an intersection as they attempt to make a turn can expect some relief as the city installs 30 left-turn arrows over several weeks, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today. The 30/30 Initiative is one of several projects intended to relieve traffic congestion and "reinvigorate" the city Department of Transportation, the mayor said at a morning news conference. Two weeks ago, the mayor fired LADOT General Manager Gloria Jeff and replaced her with longtime City Hall employee Rita Robinson. Jeff is appealing her termination to the Los Angeles City Council. The initiatives, which include plans for more one-way streets and reversible lanes, will "redouble (our) focus on reducing traffic congestion in Los Angeles and reinvigorate the hard-working men and women of the department," Villaraigosa said. (CNS)
Here are the intersections:
Continue reading "More left-turn signals coming" »
Here's a new way to communicate with commuters (it will be interesting to see how angry these emails are): Metro Board Chair Pam O’Connor invites the public to comment on the agency’s traffic-busting plans for Los Angeles County and share ideas for staving off gridlock in Metro’s first Live Chat Internet forum scheduled during the noon hour on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Go to metro.net/chat and post questions and comments live or in advance. There also will be a link on the home page of metro.net. O’Connor, a Santa Monica City Council member and other Metro executives will host monthly lunch-hour chats live at metro.net. Topics will vary and will be posted in advance on Metro.net.
NBC wants to move to Universal City, according to The Times' Meg James. On the surface, it seems like smart growth: "The company intends to relocate the network and local news operations from Burbank to a new headquarters in a massive complex planned a couple of miles away on Lankershim Boulevard, across the street from Universal Studios. A Red Line subway station and a sprawling parking lot now occupy the proposed site next to the 101 Freeway. The subway stop will remain and be part of the new complex."
But there are concerns about traffic. "It's too big," said County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who is also a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "This project has a long way to go. This is their opening salvo, but it's not a fait accompli as far as I'm concerned. Traffic and the scale of the project are going to be my concerns."
 Officials said they were going to start a crackdown on carpool lane cheaters as a way of reducing congestion in those lanes. Now here it comes:
Eighty-five motorists were issued tickets for carpool lane violations by a special enforcement task force of the California Highway Patrol on the Harbor (110) Freeway, it was announced today. Five motorcycle officers and a patrol car cruised the freeway Friday between Exposition and Century boulevards, said CHP Officer Alex Delgadillo of the agency’s Central Los Angeles Area. The task force concentrated on two categories of carpool lane violations, an official explained. One was to make sure that there were at least two people in a vehicle. The other was to make sure that vehicles did not try to get into the carpool lane over double yellow lines. "It is only legal to get into the carpool lanes where there is a broken white line," he explained. "Generally motorists in the carpool lane are going faster than those not in the carpool lanes," he said. "The motorists in the carpool lane are not expecting vehicles merging into the carpool lane with no warning," he said. (CNS)
 The LADOT has taken a beating lately. But the agency sent out a press release yesterday noting that it has something to cheer about: doing better than most cities in a national survey of traffic lights:
The City of Los Angeles, Department of Transportation (LADOT) has again achieved a better rating than the national average for its premier Automated Traffic Signal and Control (ATSAC) system, according to the National Transportation Operations Coalition (NTOC) report unveiled today. The NTOC’s 2007 National Traffic Signal Report Card, based on self-reporting by 417 agencies across the country and in Canada, uses data for six areas to achieve an overall grade: Management, Signal Operations at individual intersections and in coordinated systems; Signal Timing Practices; Traffic Monitoring and data collection; and Maintenance. Initially created in 2005, this is the second report NTOC has published. The 2005 national average was ‘D minus.’ "Los Angeles should be proud of our City’s premier ATSAC system and the two years running grade of ‘B plus.’ Can we do even better---you bet" said Rita Robinson, newly appointed Interim General Manager. LADOT’s vision is: "A vibrant city through enhanced mobility."
Continue reading "B+ for L.A. traffic signals" »
An interesting sideline to the debate over widening the 405 in the Westside. Should we take care of the animals too? Patrick McGreevy reports that the question is getting a heated response: Even in Los Angeles, where celebrities dress their pets in designer clothes, a proposal for a $455,000 animal path over the 405 Freeway has riled residents who say scarce transportation dollars should not be used to help deer and bobcats get around while humans remain stuck in endless traffic. The cost could balloon to $1.4 million if environmentalists can persuade the city to extend the wildlife path, which would be part of an overpass for vehicles and pedestrians, beyond the freeway, officials said. The plan has split residents of wealthy Westside enclaves, where the impulse to be environmentally correct is clashing with frustration over the tortoise-like pace on area roadways. Even some activists who have long supported green causes are ridiculing the idea of a special path on the Skirball Center Drive bridge so coyote and opossum can commute across the Sepulveda Pass.
Heads-up on some increased traffic enforcement around Cal State Northridge: Cal State Northridge police will increase enforcement of traffic laws on and near the campus over the next two weeks, it was announced today. "Our aim is to be a responsive department, implementing special enforcement efforts or programs that benefit the community,"university Police Chief Anne P. Glavin said. "When motorists exercise caution while driving and obey the laws, they not only can avoid a citation, but they contribute to creating a safer campus for pedestrians and other drivers." Officials said Project Pedestrian-Enforcement-Deterrence, which the current campaign is a part of, has contributed to a 50 percent decrease in the number of traffic collisions this year, compared to 2006, when 74 collisions occurred on the campus. (CNS)
More fallout on the ouster of Gloria Jeff as head of L.A. transportation.
Latest from The Times' Steve Hymon: Still, the council's three African American representatives -- Bernard C. Parks, Jan Perry and Herb Wesson -- defended Jeff. Perry said Jeff deserved to have her case heard "on the record and in public." That Villaraigosa has replaced Jeff with another black woman -- Rita Robinson, head of the city's Bureau of Sanitation -- did little to dampen criticism of the mayor in the city's black media this week. The Los Angeles Sentinel ran a story that included a description of the personnel change as "Negro musical chairs." Meanwhile, an editor at the Wave newspapers wrote unhappily that she had received assurances from the mayor's office in June that Jeff would not be fired.
Brady at LA Cowboy: And then when I met Gloria Jeff for the first time I was... stunned. I do not know if I have ever met a more arrogant, self-centered person in my life. She made it clear from the moment she entered the room she had no interest in anyone other than herself - and less interest in what anyone else thought or had to say.
Zach at LAist: Any one in charge of our traffic needs to be fully transparent and communicative to the public. There is absolutely no reason why anything needs to be treated "classified" in a the way this city moves. To that end, the new department head, Rita Robinson, looks promising. City staff seems to already have better morale and she has told press that she will develop relations with Neighborhood Councils. Both good signs for week number one on the job. As for next week, we'll see about that.
The debate over the California Incline in Santa Monica is heating up, according to The Times' Martha Groves. Critics of the massive construction project fear it will divert traffic onto narrow canyon roads: Anticipated to run through 2010, the projects will require the shutdown of portions of PCH and the rerouting of massive amounts of traffic. Residents of the canyon and other portions of Pacific Palisades -- and even of Malibu farther west -- wail that the construction will send waves of frustrated commuters, including many from the San Fernando Valley who use PCH, onto their narrow and sometimes treacherous streets. In particular, the looming shutdown of the incline, used by an average of 15,000 vehicles a day, has sparked fears of epic backups and frayed nerves.
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