Pothole Disaster Leads To Emergency Interstate 5 Closure
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Emergency roadwork on Interstate 5 means last-minute closures just in time for Labor Day weekend. This comes after a large pothole damaged several cars Thursday morning.
"Yeah, that's not good," said Steve Fong, who works in downtown Sacramento.
Thursday marked a busy day on I-5. In the morning, a massive pothole shut down northbound traffic for 5 hours. By the afternoon, CalTrans decided that a last-minute closure was the only solution.
"How is that going to work?" wondered Mehaakk Cannon, who drives on I-5 every day.
The closure will take place in two parts. The first will shut down the I Street on-ramp to Northbound I-5 near Richards Boulevard Thursday night at 11 p.m. until Friday morning at 4 a.m. The second part affects the same area but starts Friday night at 11 p.m and lasts until Tuesday morning at 4 a.m.
"Starting tomorrow?" Fang said. "That's bad timing."
Drivers will have access to two lanes during the repairs. But to avoid delays, CalTrans says drivers should use westbound Highway 50 and eastbound I-80 as alternate routes.
"They just had this like three weeks ago and they said they fixed it!" said John Sanchez.
Caltrans Chief Deputy Director Ryan Chamberlain says it's an area his department has been watching for a while.
"We had a project that was already planned in the pipeline to fix this section of I-5," he told CBS13. "it just so happened to be that the potholes just kind of came up a little bit sooner than we expected."
"How are we going to get downtown?" Cannon asked. "My biggest concern is just more traffic all around the area."
But while some drivers aren't happy about the timing, others say delaying the work may not be the best idea.
"Well if it's going to keep happening, you might as well fix it sometime," Sanchez said.
During the 59-hour closure, crews will work on the northbound lane and then on the southbound lane. All lanes will reopen Tuesday morning.
