405 closure: Motorists driving wrong way to escape jam

Traffic has come to a dead halt on the 405 Freeway in Orange County as emergency crews scramble to remove fallen power lines from the road, highway officials said.

Commuters, spreading the word of the gridlock on Twitter, said southbound traffic was backed up to the 605 Freeway while northbound traffic was snarled beginning at the 55 Freeway.

Authorities began closing down the freeway at about 3 p.m. near the Magnolia Street exit in Westminster because of a downed power line. It was unclear what caused the power line to topple.

The traffic jam has caused several accidents, said Gabe Montoya of the California Highway Patrol.

Some motorists were turning around and driving the wrong way on the freeway in order to exit, according to a CHP log documenting the incident.

Officials said they are attempting to reopen the lanes before getting too deep into rush hour. 

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--Rick Rojas

Photo: Map shows approximate location of incident in blue. Credit: Los Angeles Times