Officials Cite Major Tie-Up in Call for Roads

A single truck accident that paralyzed traffic in the Santa Clarita Valley for six hours last weekend is frustrating proof of the need to improve the valley’s fragile and inefficient road network, said authorities reviewing the incident Monday.

“It points out we have a serious problem,” said Santa Clarita City Manager George Caravalho, who heads Santa Clarita’s disaster-preparedness committee. “It had major impact on just about all major streets.”

City officials also called for an explanation of the delays in cleaning up the accident, which closed the Antelope Valley Freeway.

At the request of Mayor Jan Heidt, the city will prepare a report explaining the delays, Caravalho said. The spill occurred about 7 a.m. Saturday but was not cleaned up until after 8:30 p.m.

Transportation and law-enforcement officials said Monday that the delays were caused by an unexpected complication during cleanup and by plain old bad luck.

The problem started when a tanker carrying nearly 8,000 gallons of liquefied propane gas overturned on the San Fernando Road off-ramp to the southbound freeway. Officials first closed only the off-ramp as they waited for Hurt’s Transportation, owner of the truck, to bring in another vehicle to siphon off the fuel.

The situation grew hazardous at about 1 p.m., when work crews discovered that the tanker was leaking. Firefighters, fearing an explosion, closed the freeway in both directions, as well as Sierra Highway, the only major parallel artery.

In accordance with Caltrans procedures, the agency began calling independent contractors qualified to handle the situation, said Patricia Reid, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.

It took Caltrans a few hours to find a company available for the job, Reid said. The company was Environmental Waste Technology of Corona, 70 miles away. Bob Eickhoff, company president, said Caltrans did not reach his firm until 3 p.m. His work crews reached the scene shortly after 4 p.m., he said.

While Caltrans was scrambling to find a cleanup firm, thousands of motorists were trapped in traffic. A 20-minute trip across town took more than an hour.

Jill Klajic said it took two hours to drive from The Old Road, just west of the Golden State Freeway, to Canyon Country. The roads were packed. “I couldn’t even get into a parking lot,” she said. As her car crept up Valencia Boulevard, Klajic thought she would stop at a nearby Bob’s Big Boy to wait out the jam. Dozens of other motorists had the same idea and filled the parking lot.

“We did excellent business,” said waiter Keith Rostalski.

The California Highway Patrol said a comparable accident would have had minimal impact in the San Fernando Valley, where a grid of streets provides motorists plenty of alternative routes. But in Santa Clarita, said CHP Officer Ralph Elvira, “there were no emergency access roads.”

The Santa Clarita Valley isn’t so much a valley as a collection of steep canyons. Transportation planners have likened the highway system to the outstretched fingers of a hand. To get from one finger to another, one must go through the palm. There are no direct routes linking one finger with another.

With the Antelope Valley Freeway closed, motorists traveling east to Canyon Country had to drive northwest up the Golden State Freeway and then inch their way across town. Caltrans crews directed drivers away from the freeway only to discover that “there was no real good secondary route through the area,” Reid said.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Tony Welch said deputies directed traffic at most major intersections. A department helicopter was dispatched to spot the intersections needing the most assistance, he said.

Meanwhile, proponents of a road-tax initiative to raise up to $275 million to improve and build roads said they would use the traffic jam to aid their cause.

“I think this was a very visible demonstration of why we need these roads,” said Lou Garasi, a member of a joint-powers authority involving the city and Los Angeles County that is sponsoring the initiative. While the roads to be funded by the initiative would not prevent a massive traffic jam, they would at least reduce the congestion, he said.

Garasi said he fears that the valley’s road system would hinder traffic during a major earthquake. “Can you imagine if we had a serious calamity?” he asked.