Crash Closes I-5 Near Base

All southbound lanes of the heavily traveled Interstate 5 through Camp Pendleton were closed for seven hours Thursday after two big rigs--one carrying a sticky tar-like substance--crashed on the principal route between Orange and San Diego counties.

The accident backed up traffic for 10 miles and is the third incident since May to close the freeway where it cuts through the rugged coastal expanse of the Marine base. Caltrans, however, has no plans to build alternate roads as escape routes for trapped motorists. Major accidents are rare, and the freeway is not considered congested, Caltrans officials said.

The stretch of Interstate 5 through the base handles at least 130,000 vehicles a day and forces marooned motorists to wait hours in traffic or take a long, circuitous detour through Riverside County when the highway is blocked.

“Once I-5 is closed there is not a lot commuters can do unless they want to travel way out of their way or take the train,” said Tom Nipper, a Caltrans spokesman. “There are no good alternatives.”

Thursday’s accident occurred about 3:35 a.m., when a tanker truck and a trailer truck flipped over near Las Pulgas Road, about halfway through the base. Both drivers suffered minor injuries.

Although the cause of the accident is being investigated, authorities said the tanker apparently hit a bridge rail and turned over, spilling 25,000 pounds of a sticky material that is a main ingredient of asphalt.

The second truck, carrying a load of clothing, skidded in the spill, flipped on its side and burst into flames.

By morning rush hour, traffic had backed up to the Orange County border, where CHP officers diverted motorists onto Christianitos Road and advised them of alternative routes such as Ortega Highway--a narrow mountain route through southern Orange County--and Interstate 15 in Riverside County. Both roads experienced significant increases in traffic Thursday.

Two southbound lanes of the freeway were reopened about 10:35 a.m. But for those stranded in the crash, the only thing to do was wait until the wreckage was cleared and take a narrow two-lane path through the base.

An anxious and exasperated Laurie Horton, 52, of Dana Point was already three hours late for an appointment in Encinitas when she arrived at the Las Pulgas gate about 10:30 a.m. Horton said she left her home at 6 a.m. for a gymnastics class she teaches at the Encinitas YMCA.

“I’ve got 50 kids waiting for me, and I’ve got the only key,” Horton said. “The frustration level is pretty high. What’s making it worse is I don’t have a cell phone and I can’t get ahold of anybody.”

Horton said her situation wasn’t nearly as desperate as others on Interstate 5 who were trapped in their cars.

“One woman had all these little babies who were crying because they had run out of milk,” she said. “I felt so bad for her, but there was nothing anyone could do.”

When she reached the Las Pulgas gate, Crystal McMillan of Carson was more than three hours late for her 7:30 a.m. nursing shift in the intensive care unit at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in La Jolla. McMillan, who is seven months’ pregnant, was ecstatic when Camp Pendleton Marines allowed her to use a restroom.

“It’s been very uncomfortable,” she said.

Normally, McMillan’s commute from Carson to La Jolla takes an hour and 45 minutes. But Thursday, it took her five hours just to reach Camp Pendleton. “It’s been quite the nightmare, but I’m getting there.”

Motorists who were diverted onto Camp Pendleton made a 15-minute trip through the base before reentering the freeway in Oceanside. Many commuters, however, simply turned around.

Ramiro Portillo and his crew of painters were already three hours late for an appointment in Oceanside, so they decided to head back to Tustin after reaching Las Pulgas. But before they headed back home, Portillo broke out a portable gas grill and made chicken, rice and bean burritos for his men.

“I should have sold these on the freeway,” said Portillo, 32, of Huntington Park. “I could have made a lot of money.”

Because of the Marine base, there are no other freeways or major surface streets that can accommodate motorists stranded by major accidents.

The Marines generally have allowed drivers to use one lane of a two-lane road on the base that parallels Interstate 5. But the going is slow and access depends on Camp Pendleton’s security needs.

The other alternative is to take commuter rail or drive some combination of the Riverside Freeway, Ortega Highway, Interstate 15 in Riverside County, and Routes 78 and 76 in north San Diego County. The detour is 50 to 60 miles.

Caltrans officials said they hoped to have the rest of the freeway open by this morning. But they cautioned motorists to check before starting their morning commutes.

In May, traffic on Interstate 5 was halted for almost an hour when a stranded motorist opened fire on a tow truck driver and a Marine before he was shot to death by police. A month later, a tanker truck was rear-ended near Las Pulgas Road, spilling its cargo of jet fuel. The southbound lanes were closed for five hours.