Blanket of Dirt Backs Up Freeway
A load of dirt dumped on the eastbound lanes of the Garden Grove Freeway on Wednesday created a major traffic jam that extended for more than three miles, the California Highway Patrol said.
The dirt was spread along a 200-foot stretch of freeway about eight inches deep, CHP spokeswoman Linda Burrus said. The dirt, which began blocking traffic about 2:45 p.m., was in the slow lane about a mile east of the San Diego Freeway, she said.
“We really don’t know where it came from,” Burrus said. The most likely explanation, she said, was that it was spilled from a dirt hauler.
It took a California Department of Transportation crew nearly 90 minutes to remove up the dirt, Burrus said.
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