An L.A. County Public Works official apologized to the Castaic Area Town Council during a meeting for what he described as a “perfect storm” Dec. 29, when a big rig crashed over the side of Interstate 5, resulting in a DUI investigation and a day of gridlock for commuters.
Castaic residents are no strangers to an I-5 crash disrupting their commute.
Michael Minor, a town council representative for the areas of Hasley, Romero and Sloan canyons, said this one was particularly challenging because of the timing and the delays.
Council President Bob Lewis, who represents Meadowood, Bravo, Encore, and east of I-5 and south of Lake Hughes Road, said the frustration was compounded by inaccurate communication, which prompted the council to request a report back from officials.
Julian Garcia, principal engineer for L.A. County Public Works, addressed residents’ concerns and acknowledged the involved agencies are working to identify what could have been done better, a conversation that also has been delayed by the county’s response to the recent fires.
“We’ve had a follow-up afterward to kind of get that ‘after-action’ (report), and we’re going to meet further on it to see what more prep we can do to enhance that communication (with Caltrans),” Garcia said, acknowledging the difficulties that day.
California Highway Patrol Officer Charles Delgado said there are many factors that can impact the response time for such an incident, and it appears several were at play Dec. 29.
Minor said he was really just trying to see if there was any flexibility policy-wise on the timing for the CHP and Caltrans response for such incidents, which are bound to re-occur.
“The gridlock that it caused for, what was it, 14 hours or some 15 hours on northbound 5, I guess I’m trying to understand, is there a policy in place to get that, whatever it may be, that semi-truck in this case, off the roadway or removed from the highway shoulder as soon as possible,” Minor asked at the virtual meeting. “Or is there some way to wait until traffic could be less impacted, maybe start later in the evening?”
The trouble began just before 3 a.m. Dec. 29, when 911 operators received a call about a big rig going over the right shoulder guardrail in the northbound lanes, south of Parker Road, and traveling 30 feet down an embankment.
Delgado mentioned several factors that can increase the time it takes officers and road workers to clear a scene, which include a fuel leak, any criminal investigation, injured occupants and damage to a guardrail that needs to be fixed right away, which all were factors in this incident.
The driver, whose name was not available Thursday, was treated for injuries and then arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence, according to Officer Carlos Burgos-Lopez. A Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station official said the records for the arrest were not immediately available Thursday.
The hard closure was in place for several hours, which is when Public Works would usually have had coordination and signage in place with Caltrans, but that was part of the breakdown, Garcia acknowledged.
Rain, mud and a fully loaded truck also complicated matters, according to Norberto Perez, Caltrans maintenance manager for the region, who discussed the incident at Wednesday’s town council meeting. It took multiple attempts from the tow company, which lost several chains and a braided-steel winch in the operation, he added. The subsequent guardrail repairs took about two and a half hours, he said.
Lewis said it’s been helpful in the past when the agencies are able to let residents know about extended closures so they can avoid such traffic, which didn’t clear until about 5 p.m. Dec. 29, after several updates indicating the hard closure would only be for a few hours.
Garcia also mentioned technical and communication problems as part of the perfect storm.
“Our signs that we normally have were down for maintenance, the local traffic ones, so in trying to deploy them out there, we were not able to get out on time, because traffic had already been backed up by that time,” he said. He also said the “reports that Caltrans was getting itself, was not accurate enough to provide that vital information.”
Both Delgado and Garcia said they would see if there was anything they could do in the future.
Delgado added that in order to avoid lookie-loos, which can cause further incidents, the orders are generally to remove any vehicles sooner rather than later.
“Safety is the priority,” Minor agreed, “it’s just about seeing if there’s any flexibility.”
