I-5 closure ?

[boristhedog]

Anyone gone through the detour on I-5 through Santa Clarita? We're driving down Tuesday and Caltrans doesn't have a re-open date yet. Yikes. Like driving with three kids isn't stressful enough.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Anyone know when this might open? Can't be later than December 1st right??? I can't imagine doing that drive with a detour...

 

[Albort]

Anyone know when this might open? Can't be later than December 1st right??? I can't imagine doing that drive with a detour...

hmm, its an accident so i doubt it would extend all the way until Dec but it might... The tunnel is still unstable... Suggest taking the 101 instead...

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We got caught in this horrible mess this morning. We left the hotel at 5:30 am, without watching the news first. The sign they had wasn't the clearest about what was going on, suddenly the traffic was just dead stopped. It was horrible. People had been waiting on 5 for HOURS and HOURS. We saw people just turning off their car and sitting there.

We were lucky enough to be able to get off the freeway (moving from the fast lane over too). Got back on to 5 going South, hit the 118 west, to the 23 North, and then I believe the 126 east? Which met up with 5 again, past the accident. Took us about 50 miles out of our way and added an hour and half to our driving. But was much better then sitting there, since it's still closed tonight, and doesn't appear to be opening any time soon.

From the news I saw tonight it looked like a horrific accident though. I can't imagine 5 being closed for a super long time. It's such a major artery for the area. But my thoughts and prayers are certainly with the families of the 2 who lost their lives in the accident. I must say though, for us it was a bit of a nightmare since we didn't know much about the other freeways in the area.

 

[Rapunsel]

It is reported that the freeway will be closed for a while. The tunnel that it happened in is 1/8th of a mile long. There were temps up 2,000 degrees inside the tunnel and they need to make sure that it is structurally correct.

Look into KNBC news 4 website for updated info... Updates are showing there.

I will watch the 11 pm news tonight and report more for you..

 

[Mililani Mouser]

yikes!! we were planning on going to magic mountain tomorrow.....i wonder how much longer the detours will add to the car ride time?

 

[Rapunsel]

11 pm news is saying that it will take days to clear the highway and wreckage..


Bits and pieces from the news:
3 are confirmed dead.. Searching car by car. Both cars and trucks in tunnel. Worried about the integrity of structural condition... They are worried about what might happen to the concrete heating up and possible
exploding..

There are alternate routes... Saying if you don't have to travel that way.. don't go that way..

Steer clear of the 5. Hoping that it will open by Tuesday but not sure..

Closed in both directions in Santa Clarita.

Caltrans is asking people to take detours. There are signs up to do detours.. But some detours are taking 5 hours or more..




Ok that was the 11 pm news...

 

[DisQueen]

IF the tunnel is structurally stable, Caltrans hopes to open the car lanes Tuesday morning. They hope to finish cleaning out the tunnel by Sunday evening. Then the engineers can enter and truly determine what needs to be done before opening the freeway.

Caltrans suggests taking Metrolink train to/from Magic Mountain. They plan to add trains to help.

Good luck and be thankful you are only going around and weren't caught in the mess.

 

[DizneyMommy]

If there is damage to the car lanes due to the fire in the tunnel, they have said it could be closed for months... just consider that may be a possibility.

The detours during the weekdays will be HOURS. Consider taking PCH around that entire area if you are going to spend hours in the car anyways, might as well enjoy the view. I'be heard not many people are venturing this far off the detour path, so you may not have much company.

 

[abby]

For those of us unfamilair with the area, can someone tell us if it is North or South of DL and how it affects transfers from the area airports?

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

For those of us unfamilair with the area, can someone tell us if it is North or South of DL and how it affects transfers from the area airports?

It is north of DL. I wouldn't think it would effect the airports, unless you need to get through the area to catch a flight.

Our detour took us 50 miles total out of the way and added an hour and half to our driving time. It was a big mess, and I know it freaked us out a bit because we were clueless to the other area highways. But luckily we found our way.

 

[Mililani Mouser]

i must have gone on the same detour as Jen. it took us 2.5 hours to get to magic mountain, up the 5, detour to the 14 north, then 138 west (through the hot desert!), then down to valencia. getting back was about an hour (much shorter detour), down magic mountain parkway, down the 14 south, then the 5. we left magic mountain around 8pm, got to dlh at 9pm.

we did not see the accident on the way up or down. i'm glad we went on a sunday, i feel sorry for the folks going to work this week. the news said there may be a reopening of something by tuesday.

 

[DLVixen]

We just returned from DL last night and normally we take I-5 N home but opted to avoid the detour and instead came around the 215/58 to get back home and ended up with an extra 2 hours of drive time, so I guess it wasn't so bad, also I read on yahoo news that 1-5 has now been reopened.

 

[melissalee1220]

HUGE Disney fan here and I happen to live off of the first exit in Santa Clarita so we've been following this VERY closely as it impacts us in every day life.

Anyways, the I5 is now officially open in both directions, with the exception of the 5 south truck route. All should be back to normal! Have a safe drive down and enjoy DL!

 

[Leofoenget]

Anyone gone through the detour on I-5 through Santa Clarita? We're driving down Tuesday and Caltrans doesn't have a re-open date yet. Yikes. Like driving with three kids isn't stressful enough.

I heard on Monday Morning's news it's open.


jan

 

[boristhedog]

Woo Hoooo!!!!!!! Less than 24 hours to go! I bet the traffic will be heavy with the truck tunnel closed...but an open freeway is faster than a closed freeway with a two hour detour.

HUGE Disney fan here and I happen to live off of the first exit in Santa Clarita so we've been following this VERY closely as it impacts us in every day life.

Anyways, the I5 is now officially open in both directions, with the exception of the 5 south truck route. All should be back to normal! Have a safe drive down and enjoy DL!