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Officials
shoot forr
Thursda DEL
By Mark Sabbatini
Signal Staff Writer
SANTA CLARITA - The
scheduled opening of the detour ar-
ound a bridge on Interstate 5 that
collapsed during last week's earth-
quake has been postponed from to-
day until at least Thursday, officials
said.
The delay resulted when Caltrans
workers planning to blow up the re-
mainder of the Gavin Canyon
Bridge to protect traffic passing be-
low discovered key utility lines run-
ning under the interchange, said
Russell Snyder, a Caltrans spokes-
man. He said officials brought in
20,000 yards of dirt to cover the
utilities, which included fiber-
optics lines to Los Angeles Interna-
tional Airport, plus key local gas
and oil lines.
"They had to create an earthen
buffer to protect the lines when the
concrete fell down," he said. "They
made the dirt 15 feet thick in some
spots."
Crews are now hauling away the
demolished concrete and steel, and
hope to have a detour on The Old
Road finished in time for Thursday
morning's commute, Snyder said.
He said rain forecast for Monday
night might delay the opening
f urthcr, but beliewesitwi 1 bot e i
factor.
Metrolink station
Soledad Canyon Rd., east of
Saugus Speedway
............. Metrolink line
- Interstate 5 detour
The Old Road, perhaps as
soon as Wednesday, will
serve as a detour around
quake-damaged stretches of
1-5. The detour will feature
two lanes in each direction
with a center divider.
Southbound traffic will leave
the freeway at Calgrove
Boulevard and rejoin it at the
Weldon Summit truck stop.
Northbound traffic will exit the
freeway at the truck stop and
re-enter at Calgrove.
0 Newhall Park (1 of 4)
- Emergency center
"Under normal circumstances we
wouldn, t have workers out there in
therain, but these are extraordinary
circumstances," he said.
A magnitude 6.6 earthquake Jan.
17 caused parts of the overcrossing
to collapse onto The Old Road,
more than 200 feet below. Cal trans
and other officials estimate it will
take at least a year to repair the
bridge and other freeways damaged
m the quake, including a portion of
the Antelope Valley Freeway
(Highway 14) that collapsed onto
1-5.
Traffic on 1-5 will be diverted
onto an improved stretch of The Old
Road between Calgrove Boulevard
and Weldon Canyon Road. Offi- COMMUTING TIPS
cials estimate the detour will be able
to handle half to two-thirds of nor-
mal traffic flow. Road
Traffic on Highway 14 has been
diverted southbound onto Sierra
Highway and northbound onto the
Highway 14 truck lanes.
Jerry Baxter, a Caltrans director
said he hopes to have the south-
bound truck lanes on the freeway
open at the end of the week to
further relieve traffic flow, which
has resulted in delays of up to four
hours.
Caltrans officials said Monday
morning's traffic was relatively
light compared to last week, due to Newhall
commuters carpooling, using
public transportation and stagger- Lyons Avenue
ing their traveling hours.
Highway 14 detour
Highway 14 is closed south of
Placerita Cyn. Rd. The detour N Highway 14
follows Sierra Highway to The 1-5 detour may detour open
Old Road, Foothill Boulevard open Thursday
and San Fernando Road in the
San Fernando Valley, where
commuters can take
Sepulveda Boulevard to the
Rexford St. entrance to 1-5.
Red Cross shelter
Map not to scale
Sources: Caltrans
City Hall City of Santa Clarita
Tim Whyte/The Signal