One Small Puddle Makes One Big Jam

A small puddle of oil that grew and grew spoiled the morning commute for drivers on the San Diego Freeway on Thursday.

It all started, according to the California Highway Patrol, when oil was spilled by some vehicle in the slow lane south of Bristol Street and then spread until it stretched nearly a mile.

At about 6:50 a.m., the driver of a rented tractor-trailer came upon slowing traffic near Bristol and lost control when he braked, his rig skidding off the road and jack-knifing, Keith Thornhill of the CHP said.

Almost at the same time, a car entering the San Diego Freeway from the Costa Mesa Freeway slammed into the back of the truck. And although the accident was contained to the side of the road and Caltrans crews only had to close the slow lane, the resulting traffic jam lasted nearly three hours, turning the freeway into a parking lot back to Euclid Avenue and slowing traffic back beyond that to the Garden Grove Freeway.

“We had the most problem with onlookers at the scene,” Thornhill said. “They were slowing to a complete stop. Officers motioned them to keep moving and (drivers) would take a second to look at the officer and then start going. Of course, that adds minutes to every second commuters are there already.”

Thornhill said officers were not sure where the oil came from, but it appeared to be a “heavy lube oil,” possibly from a truck differential.

“The oil was mainly carried by the traffic--that’s what spread it out,” Thornhill said. “And it just sat there until this guy came along and hit the brakes in the wrong spot. . . . The oil could have been from a truck; it could have been anything, maybe a canister of oil. Unfortunately, somebody found it the hard way.”

Officers closed the Baker Street on-ramp to the Costa Mesa Freeway, as well as the Bristol Street on-ramp to the San Diego Freeway and the transition road from the Costa Mesa Freeway to the San Diego Freeway.

Things got even messier, Thornhill said, when fluid spilled from the wrecked truck’s hydraulic system.

“They had hydraulic fluid on top of the oil, which really makes it exciting,” Thornhill said. “You might as well be walking on ice that has just been watered down.”

Thornhill said there was no problem for northbound commuters because the accident was not visible from that side of the freeway.