Expired—Big rig crash jams Southbound I-5 at Vista Del Lago until 6 p.m.

LEBEC, CA (Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 at 4:09 p.m.)—Lane closures now expected to go beyond 6 p.m. New time estimate not given. Lane numbers 1 and 2 are open. Lane numbers 3 and 4 are still closed.

LEBEC, CA (Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 at 3:53 p.m.)—Caltrans has opened the #2 lane on the southbound Interstate 5 at the accident site. The #1 and #2 lanes are now open.

LEBEC, CA (Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 at 2:07 p.m.)—Mountain Communities resident Jim Schmidt reports that it took him one hour to get from Smokey Bear Road past the accident site at the south end of Pyramid Lake. The estimate for clearance of the roadway is still 6 p.m.

LEBEC, CA (Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 at 10:22 a.m.)—CHP reports that southbound traffic is backed up to Smokey Bear Road. An alternate route is to take Highway 138 east to Highway 14 south through Palmdale and west back to Interstate 5.

LEBEC, CA (Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 at 7:58 a.m.)—Southbound Interstate 5 traffic into the Santa Clarita area is jammed at Vista Del Lago after a big rig went off the freeway last night into a “gutter,” according to CHP preliminary reports. The accident happened just before 11 p.m. Tuesday night, just south of Vista Del Lago Road, CHP says. Hazardous materials have possibly been compromised and the #2, #3 and #4 lanes have been shut down and are expected to remain closed until 6 p.m. Wednesday. Only the southbound #1 lane is open. All northbound lanes are open as of 5:45 a.m. An alternate route is to take Highway 138 east to Highway 14 south in Lancaster and follow it through Palmdale and then west back to Interstate 5, and then south.

This is part of the December 11, 2015 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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