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Freeway interchange closed for cleanup from tanker crash
A skip loader pushes the burnt chassis of a gas tanker that crashed out of a tunnel at the I-5/State Route 2 interchange.
(
Caltrans
)
Temporary support structure underneath I-5 N on SR-2, where a tanker truck crashed on Saturday.
(
José Martinez
)
Construction crews work on the I-5 underpass Sunday where a tanker flipped and caught fire on Saturday, July 13. Caltrans said Monday that all northbound lanes of the freeway will remain closed until Tuesday, as will two southbound lanes at the underpass connecting I-5 and State Route 2.
(
Stephanie O'Neill/ KPCC
)
Traffic delays were expected Saturday with the closure of the interchange from the southbound 5 Freeway to the southbound 2 Freeway as crews worked to clean up after the massive tanker truck fire and fuel spill last weekend.
The work involved getting gasoline out of the storm drains and the ground, according to Patrick Chandler, a spokesperson for CalTrans.
"Well, right now it's mostly cleanup, because you know it was an 8,500-gallon tanker that caught fire there in the tunnel. So there was a lot of fuel that leaked into the drains," Chandler said.
Crews were trying to get ahead of any oncoming rains this weekend or in the coming week, he said.
The connector from the 5 Freeway to the 2 Freeway was expected to reopen at 3 p.m., according to NBC4.
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