A five-mile backup greeted commuters Thursday on both the eastbound and westbound 210 Freeway during the second, five-day semi-closure in the past month to allow Caltrans to perform major roadwork on the bridge over the San Gabriel River.
In the morning, westbound vehicles were backed up about five miles to Grand Avenue in Glendora, adding about an hour to the morning commute from the Inland Empire, high desert and eastern Los Angeles County cities into the north San Gabriel Valley, downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
In the afternoon, “get home” traffic on the eastbound lanes began to slow as early as 3 p.m., with medium slow-downs at Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia and slow-to-a-crawl conditions from Huntington Drive to the 605 Freeway — a more than five-mile stretch.
Caltrans did not close the freeway but instead allowed east and west traffic to flow around the freeway construction site in Irwindale, a first for the agency, said Eric Menjivar, Caltrans spokesman. Traffic moved without exiting, albeit at much slower speeds than normal.
As crews repaired the east lanes of the San Gabriel River Bridge, Caltrans diverted eastbound drivers into three lanes on the westbound freeway portion. That portion was also reconfigured to allow westbound drivers to squeeze into three lanes, overall reducing the freeway capacity by 50%.
The construction is along a 1.3-mile section of the busy freeway between the 605 Freeway interchange in Duarte and the Irwindale Avenue exit in Irwindale. Caltrans reported that the work completely closed the 605 connector to the eastbound 210, as well as the westbound 210 connector to the southbound 605, and the eastbound 210 Mount Olive Drive onramps.
Menjivar said on Thursday that all this is supposed to end by 5 a.m. Aug. 23, when the agency is scheduled to finish construction and reopen the lanes.
This second semi-closure is the mirror image of one that lasted from July 20 to July 26, when construction crews repaired and rebuilt the westbound section of the bridge. This time, the eastbound lane portion is under repaired — sections are being replaced with new rebar and concrete, part of a $30 million project.
“Once we are done with this on Tuesday, commuters won’t have to deal with this anymore. No more long-term closures,” Menjivar said. But there could be some upcoming single-lane closures at night as Caltrans replaces freeway medians and side barriers, he said.
While Caltrans posted 80 signs along the 210 and other connecting freeways for weeks ahead, sending out warnings to motorists about the latest work and lane reductions, that didn’t make some drivers happier.
In fact, some were caught off guard.
“It was crazy. There was traffic the whole (expletive) way,” said Jose Martinez, as he filled his tank with gas at a station on Huntington Drive in Duarte Thursday morning after exiting the freeway.
Martinez, who was driving from Victorville into the San Gabriel Valley in the morning, was unaware of the construction and extreme lane reductions. “It was horrible. I was stuck in it for an hour. It started jamming at Grand Avenue,” he said. Around 8:45 a.m., he left the gas station to rejoin the 210 Freeway westbound.
But a few miles beyond the construction, a work truck caught fire, blocking three westbound lanes at the Sierra Madre/San Gabriel Boulevard offramp, backing up westbound traffic to Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia nearly until noon.
“Yeah, that made things worse. It was adding insult to injury,” Menjivar said.
In the afternoon, Max Leisure was filling up at a gas station on Santa Anita Avenue and buying some water for the ride home. He was stuck in the freeway gridlock in July during the first closure and has since found an alternate route to his home in the high desert.
He would head south on Santa Anita Avenue and planned on taking Duarte Road to Myrtle Avenue/Peck Road, to Live Oak Avenue and then Arrow Highway. He would then go north on Lark Ellen to get back on the 210 Freeway eastbound, thereby avoiding the construction, he said.
Last night he stayed with a friend to skip this morning’s nightmare jam, he said.
“I’m glad they are making sure our bridges are safe but it could not be a more inconvenient time in late summer and with kids going back to school,” he said.
Many motorists hopped off the freeway in Glendora and Azusa in the morning, using Arrow Highway and Foothill Boulevard. Both surface streets immediately became gridlocked and are not recommended by authorities.
Menjivar urged motorists for the next five days to plan on using alternate routes, including the 10 and 60 freeways, which were heavier than normal but moving on Thursday. Some could take the L Line (Gold) light-rail train.
In Duarte, similar to the quasi-closure in July, morning traffic began flooding onto Huntington Drive and Royal Oaks Drive, the latter a two-lane, east-west road lined by homes and a protected, dirt walking path used by walkers and bicycle riders.
Walking buddies Wanda White and Leslie Gallegos had that déjà vu feeling on Thursday. As residents who live on Royal Oaks Drive, they remembered drivers using their street as an alternate to the 210 during the five days in July.
“Last time you couldn’t leave your house. We couldn’t pull out of our driveway,” said Gallegos.
This time, White could see the drivers glancing at their phones, presumably looking at directional apps to lead them around the gridlock. Around 9:30 a.m. as they approached their homes, an 18-wheeler big-rig crashed into a parked car, she said. “My guess, it was routed there by a traffic app,” she added.
They both were very concerned about the afternoon commuters coming from Los Angeles. That queue could back up to the 134 Freeway in west Pasadena and Eagle Rock on Friday or on Monday, Menjivar said. On Thursday afternoon, speeds along the 210/134 interchange were around 20 mph.
“This afternoon will be really bad for cars on the 210 going east,” Gallegos said. “That’s what we are dreading.”