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Photo: Chrissy Fiorilli-Ellington, July 13, 2013, 11 AM. A tanker overturned on the northbound 2 to the northbound 5 Freeway transition road spilling more than 8500 gallons of gasoline, that immediately caught fire & spread into the LA River, creating a second scary fire in Elysian Valley. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
After a weekend in July a lot of neighbors would rather forget & months of road closure that was particularly noticeable after Dodger games, the transition road from the northbound 2 Freeway to the northbound 5 Freeway opened Friday with a bunch of politicians & Caltrans officials patting themselves on the back for doing their job & not making us wait 2 years to get it done. Read about it: LA Times
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 13, 2013, 11:43 AM. The arrow points to the transition road damaged by the July 13, 2013 tanker fire: the northbound 2 Freeway to the northbound 5 Freeway. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Last month, CalTrans estimated it would cost $16.5 million to repair the 2 & 5 Freeway Interchange damaged in the overturned tanker fire on July 13, 2013. Friday, Governor Brown declared a belated state of emergency to obtain federal funds for the repairs.
Of course, CalTrans is spending $11.5 million to screw up the end of the 2 Freeway & build sound walls that no one seems to want on Allesandro St, between Rosebud & Oak Glen. Maybe they should take that money & spend it to fix the 2 & 5 Interchange.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 4, 2013, 8:24 AM. Most mornings, it's the southbound 2 Freeway to the southbound 5 Freeway that backs up all the way to the 134 Freeway. This overpass is the southbound 2 Freeway crossing the LA River before the 2 & 5 Interchange.
Click here for all our Tanker Fire related posts.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 2, 2013. Two large cranes were parked on the northbound 2 to the northbound 5 Freeway overpass, above Riverside Drive. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
CalTrans is still conducting tests to see what needs to be replaced in the tanker fire damaged interchange.
Read more: The Eastsider
Photo: Ricky Dominguez, July 15, 2013. Saturday's overturned tanker that exploded in flames on the 2 & 5 Freeway Interchange, spread to the LA River via storm drains. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Word from City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell's office (via the Elysian Valley Neighborhood Watch) is the LA River bike path and recreation zone (kayaking & fishing) will reopen in Elysian Valley tomorrow. The 2 1/2 mile recreation zone was shut down since the fire that burned most of the spilled 8500 gallons of gasoline on Saturday.
The Environmental Protection Agency supervised the clean up by a private contractor. Water has been tested downstream and declared clean. Read more: LA Times.
*Update: Like everything involved with the tanker fire, freeway closures/re-openings & LA River, there's a morass of different agencies involved, press releases & emails that have come through my inbox. Due to conflicting information, we had the river re-opening tomorrow, Wed, July17. Apparently, it's already open. When in doubt, rely on The Eastsider.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2013. Not sure when it reopened, but the secret exit from the Southbound 2 Freeway to Riverside & Allesandro Street was open this morning. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
The offramp (from the SB2 to the SB5 transition road) is directly adjacent to the tunnel where the tanker exploded in 2 & 5 Interchange this Saturday. I believe they share a common wall.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2013. Traffic barricades were piled strategically at intersections to prevent the type of driving mayhem we experienced over the weekend as frustrated drivers searched in vain for a way through our dead end hillside streets.
Let's hope the PM commute & Tuesday's commute go as well.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2013, 9:48 AM. Traffic officers directing traffic at every intersection on Fletcher, as far as I could see into Atwater. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
There may have been a lot of traffic on our surface streets, but it was not as chaotic and hostile as it was over the weekend. I also think commuters were smart enough to take alternate routes where possible & leave extra early or later for work.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2013. There were 2 traffic officers keeping things moving on Fletcher & Riverside. I've seen a lot of traffic at this intersection (yes, after 9 AM) & this was amazing.
Today also proved why Riverside Drive is a designated "secondary highway." There is no way it will ever go on a "road diet." This is the second time this year the 5 Freeway has been closed during the morning commute.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2013. While the traffic was much heavier than usual on Riverside Drive in front of Allesandro Elementary School, it kept moving. I also noticed roving traffic officers checking side streets like Gilroy & Newell (potential cut-through intersections) in our corridor.
Kudos to City Councilmembers Mitch O'Farrell (CD13) & Tom LaBonge (CD4) for ensuring enough City workers on hand to keep traffic flowing through our major streets and not through the residential neighborhoods.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 15, 2013, 9:30 AM. I expected more gridlock on the 2 Freeway Southbound this morning with the dire warnings of Carmageddon due to the freeway closures after Saturday's tanker fire at the 2 & 5 Freeway interchange. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
It's not unusual to see traffic well past 9:30 AM on the stretch just north of the 5 Freeway.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 19, 2013, 9:29 AM. Just a few weeks ago, I happened to shoot the back up on the 2 Freeway - mostly cars taking the transition road to the Southbound 5 Freeway.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 13, 2013. During Saturday's tanker fire road closures, despite clearly marked "Not A Through Street Signs" (like this one at Rosebud Ave at Allesandro Street), countless drivers attempted to cut through, only to find themselves on the winding hillside street of Corralitas Drive, from which there is no easy turn around.(Click on photos to enlarge.)
CalTrans announced Freeway closures will continue through at least Tuesday. Read more: The Eastsider
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 13, 2013. Traffic mayhem ensues when drivers attempt to make u-turns, left turns & right turns, all at once, each hoping they'll find a way through on our hillside streets, like the photo above (which is looking across Allesandro Street to the other side of Rosebud). It too is not a through street but it lacks a sign. (Not that the signs actually stopped many drivers.)
While we chatted on the street, a neighbor & I yelled at drivers to stop & turn around before driving up the hill. That mostly worked. She turned her hose on a few cars too. That got their attention.
Neighbors on Silver Ridge & Lake View report drivers speeding through their streets attempting to cut through the neighborhood Saturday.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 13, 2013. The intersection of the 2 & 5 Freeways is like a roller coaster maze of ramps, seen here from the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.
Saturday, I emailed a list of suggestions to City Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell of where to place City traffic officers & barricades (restricting local traffic only on side streets) through our corridor. I know he also met with all of the involved agencies and leaders from Elysian Valley Sunday. Let's hope traffic control was one of the topics on the agenda. Monday sounds like a good day to call in sick.
At least there are no Dodgers home games until July 25th!
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, July 13, 2013. In the first minute after the explosion Vandiveer shot this photo from his living room. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Yesterday's tanker fire would have been a major disaster if the Santa Anas were blowing. The Red Car Neighborhood (Corralitas Drive, Riverside Place, Riverside Terrace, Lake View Ave, Silver Ridge Ave), Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract, as well as all of northern Elysian Valley would have been in the middle of a firestorm.
Narrow streets, most of which are dead end streets without City standard or LAFD approved turning radii, in all three neighborhoods, would create havoc and panic, block emergency access, as people try to flee, while other drivers cut through the neighborhood because major streets and freeways would be closed.
(*Update) Photo: Ricky Dominguez, July 13, 2013. Gasoline from the tanker fire ran down the storm drains and exploded into the LA River in Elysian Valley, right next to homes, businesses, a bike path & recreational zone.
Today is a good day to think about what you would take with you if you only had a few minutes to evacuate.
In the news void yesterday, with a huge column of smoke rising from just below my hill, I grabbed my camera, dog (on a leash), purse, portable computer hard drive and keys. My phone was already in my pocket, sunglasses already on. In retrospect, I should've also grabbed an inhaler and reading glasses (but those are replaceable). I had a heck of a time reading texts and emails from neighbors and The Eastsider as I searched for a neighbor's yard with a good view.
My neighbor got her cats into the house ready to evacuate with cat carrier, and was out watering down her trees and patio umbrellas (as were many other neighbors).
Make a list. Know what's important and where you keep it. More than 20 years ago, we had a house fire in the middle of the night. I knew my list so well (because of emergency earthquake planning), I managed to take the first 8 things on my list and get out the door in 30 seconds.
On my hill we know our neighbors. Have a network of neighbors you can check in with if you aren't home. You may not be able to get home. I talked to several neighbors who spent several hours trapped in area traffic yesterday.
The Red Cross has a comprehensive guide to emergency preparedness on their website.
Some neighborhood Hillside streets are in the Red Flag Day No Parking Zone, we are in CD13. Learn more & sign up for text & phone alerts from the LA City Fire Dept: http://lafd.org/redflag/
Bookmark the following Twitter feeds on your phone:
LAFD
CalTrans District 7
CHP Southern Division
The Eastsider
Yesterday, the first and most accurate news and photos about what was happening in our neighborhoods came from The Eastsider.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 13, 2013, 11:02 AM. View from my neighbor's backyard on Corralitas Drive. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
For the best photos and local updates: The Eastsider
And a big personal THANK YOU to Jesus Sanchez, The Eastsider. When they shut down both freeways and Riverside Drive & tons of fire engines going past - I couldn't tell what was going on but knew it was nearby - especially when the LAFD helicopter banked steeply 50' from my house. Neighbors on Corralitas were nervously hosing down their trees and houses. Thanks again Eastsider!
*UPDATED with neighbors' photos...
Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, July 13, 2013, 10:48 AM. A huge column of oily black smoke billowed from the transition tunnels on the 2 & 5 Freeway Interchange as seen from Riverside Drive, in front of Allesandro Elementary School.
Photo: Chrissy Fiorilli-Ellington, July 13, 2013, 11:11 AM. The Freeways & Riverside Drive were shut down, the tanker fire at the interchange nearly out, & suddenly fire explodes out the storm drain and into the LA River (the black column of smoke on the right). Shot from Rosebud Ave in the Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.
