Anti-Clinton Banners Bring Gridlock to 2 O.C. Freeways

Four large anti-Bill Clinton banners placed along the Interstate 5 and San Diego Freeway proved quite a distraction Wednesday, causing traffic to back up for 15 miles.

“People were really mad,” said CHP Officer Angel Johnson, who reported that more than 100 motorists called in to complain about the 20-foot banners which denounced the Democratic presidential candidate.

Johnson said traffic gridlock developed when curious northbound drivers slowed down to read the professionally made red and white banners, which had slogans such as “You have to be joking to vote for Clinton.”

“The visual hazard was so great that the banners had to be taken down,” Johnson said. “They didn’t break the law by putting the banners up, but we would ask that people use common sense. We’re really lucky that we didn’t have any accidents.”

The traffic jam began to develop around 6:30 a.m., and cars were eventually backed up from Avery Parkway in Mission Viejo to Jeffrey Road in Irvine.

“We had one woman call in and tell us that it normally takes her 25 minutes to drive to work and (Wednesday) it took an hour and 10 minutes,” Johnson said.

The laminated cloth banners, which had been placed near Jeffrey Road, were removed by Caltrans workers about 8:30 a.m. and traffic began flowing smoothly about an hour later.

In the last two weeks, authorities said, a growing number of political signs have appeared on freeway overpasses and other places, sometimes dangerously obstructing highway directional signs such as wrong-way signs.

“We’re coming down to the wire and candidates are trying to get their message across,” said Caltrans spokesman Steve Seville. “We’re just hoping that they try and find another way of doing it.”