210 Freeway closure creates a 5-mile jam
Freeway closures and long delays greeted commuters Thursday on the westbound 210 Freeway and the northern portion of the 605 Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley during the first of a continuous, five-day Caltrans closure.
Caltrans is repairing a 50-year-old concrete bridge on the 210 spanning the San Gabriel River, requiring closure of all westbound lanes between Irwindale Avenue and the 605 interchange. They will remain closed until early Tuesday morning.
Most affected were motorists and truckers from eastern L.A. County and the Inland Empire, driving the preferred route heading into Irwindale, Duarte, Arcadia, Monrovia, Pasadena and the San Fernando Valley.
Traffic was nearly stopped from the 1.3-mile closure in Irwindale to the 57 Freeway, according to some reports. By 9 a.m. Caltrans reported heavier-than-usual traffic backed up at least 5 miles to Grand Avenue in Glendora, said Eric Menjivar, Caltrans spokesperson.
“This is pretty much what we expected,” Menjivar said Thursday morning. “We anticipated an hour delay.”
Caltrans diverted vehicles from the westbound 210 lanes at the closure onto the northern half of the eastbound 210, where six lanes were split: three for westbound traffic and three for eastbound traffic. Because of the shifting and lane reduction, delays also hit the eastbound 210 through Monrovia and Duarte.
The major bridge repair work also shut down the connector from the northbound 605 to the eastbound 210, jamming traffic for a mile up to the northern terminus.
Thousands of cars apparently ignored the closure signs and continued to the terminus, exiting at Mount Olive Drive and turning left onto Huntington Drive.
Backups on Huntington Drive extended into Azusa where it becomes Foothill Boulevard. Many cars and trucks continued west on Huntington, Duarte's main street, or turned west from 605/Mount Olive, further crowding Huntington Drive. Most drove around the freeway closure and then got back on in Duarte or Monrovia.
The onslaught of big rigs onto Huntington Drive, where Duarte recently built condos and town homes in a mix with commercial centers, angered Duarte City Councilman Sam Kang.
“This is seriously affecting my city. Huntington is becoming the 210,” Kang said Thursday afternoon. “I have all these 18-wheelers going through on Huntington Drive. They are getting off at Mount Olive and going on Huntington. They are roughing up our roads.”
Kang wanted Caltrans to divert the 605 traffic at Lower Azusa Road, then onto Irwindale Avenue, thereby avoiding Mount Olive and Huntington Drive. His city is considering asking Caltrans to pay for road repairs.
“Caltrans should have planned this more thoroughly,” Kang said.
Raymond Gonzalez, who had a truck full of windows to deliver, said he avoided the closure by taking back roads. He said the 210 Freeway westbound takes 45 minutes to go a few miles most mornings, so he was prepared to get creative.
“I drive them from La Puente,” he explained during a stop for fuel at a service station on Huntington Drive and Mount Olive. “I always take alternate routes to the 210.”
On Royal Oaks Drive, a winding, two-lane street through leafy, residential Duarte, Monrovia and Bradbury, Lynn Macapangay was walking her dog, Brownie.
A continuous string of cars drove by, having exited the freeway and cut down Los Lomas Road to Royal Oaks to avoid Huntington Drive congestion.
“Yeah, I noticed there are a lot more cars on this side street than usual. It is all the traffic coming from the Inland Empire,” she said.
Menjivar had some advice for drivers for the next five days: Take alternate freeways.
For example, cars and trucks heading north on the 605 from the Long Beach or Whittier areas should take the 60 or 10 freeways. In other words, avoid the 210 interchange.
Likewise, Inland Empire commuters should take the 10 or 60 freeways west and avoid the 210 west of the 57. However, the 10 was heavier than usual near West Covina on Thursday, according to data from sigalert.com.
The traffic snarls most likely will not get better until the westbound lanes open at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
The good news is that the crews had already done substantial demolition of the bridge by Thursday afternoon. “We are right on schedule,” Menjivar said.
That means he's predicting no delay in the reopening. And Caltrans is aiming for an earlier reopening time, he said.
“We are optimistic. We are working hard to meet our timeline,” he said.