Big Rig Crash on the 5 Causes Nightmare Traffic Jam for Friday Drive Home
Could the big rig that just smashed through the concrete divider on the 5 freeway in Burbank have picked a worse possible time to bring traffic to a standstill?
NBC4 Oh no you did not.
Just after 5 p.m. this afternoon -- smack-dab in the middle of the Friday rush -- a big rig heading southbound somehow lodged itself into the concrete, causing as many as four smaller vehicles to crash as well, according to TV reports.
Like a good L.A. news station, NBC4 is streaming the mother of all traffic jams live...
... and has a full photo gallery up of the dramatic fuel spill (we hear there were flames) and CHP cleanup efforts.
For the first half-hour after the crash, all lanes were shut down and traffic was at a complete standstill. The parking-lot effect reportedly stretched three miles in each direction.
By 6:30 p.m., two southbound lanes and one northbound lane had been reopened -- but that hasn't done much to relieve the buildup. And the CHP is saying that on the northbound side, "all lanes will be shut down again once tow trucks arrive to remove big rig."
Just in case that isn't infuriating enough for you, NBC4 reports that L.A.'s constant state of under-construction freeways is making the situation worse:
This part of the freeway -- the Hollywood Way overpass -- was recently renovated and several on- and off-ramps are under construction, making exiting the snarled traffic via a right shoulder impossible.
So yeah! Because the best way to release one's traffic frustration is in 140 characters or less (and how are those CHP creepers going to catch you when you're pretty much parked on the 5?), here are our favorite FML Tweets from the anti-TGIF drive home. Also a few from the smug Angelenos who were lucky enough to get home before 5 p.m., and a celebrity cameo from William Shatner.
Mess on the 5. There are cars everywhere. And not just on the freeway.
— Rachel Erickson (@sayitsrachel) August 25, 2012#traffic
anyone going home in LA on the 5 freeway tonight is fucked. Shut down in both directions. Big rig went through the divider. Get comfy guys.
— Zak Knutson (@chopshopzak) August 25, 2012
— Erick B (@ErickB69) August 25, 2012
@williamshatner Real news would have been that the 5 was open & traffic moving smoothly.
I fell sorry for you slaves on the 5 in
— the King Esco (@thekingesco) August 25, 2012#Burbank right now... Looks like your stuck there for at least another hour.#Traffic
If u r on the 5 fwy heading to
— Karen Lederman (@KLtheSportsChic) August 25, 2012@dodgers game, u r not makin it to the game. freeway closed.
Shoutout to all the people stuck on the 5 freeway right now that have to go to the bathroom...
— amanda (@_babymew) August 25, 2012
I'm stuck on the 5 freeway... AWESOME
— Nairy Anastasia (@NairyAnastasia) August 25, 2012
[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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