A group of state and city of San Diego leaders gathered next to Interstate 5 and State Route 56 Tuesday morning asking questions prompted by the eight-hour closure of Interstate 5 on Dec. 5.
“We heard directly from constituents who missed flights, people who missed their own critical medical appointments, people who could not pick up children, people who couldn't get to work or get home,” said State Senator Catherine Blakespear, who represents coastal communities from Orange County to the city of San Diego.
Sitting in traffic on the best of days can be a frustrating inconvenience, but when freeways shut down for extended periods of time it’s also a public safety issue, she said.
Blakespear and seven other state and local elected officials sent a letter to the California Department of Transportation, California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) on Monday, asking for clarity on freeway closure procedures and policies.
“There were hours-long traffic stand stills on the freeway, local streets were choked by congestion due to traffic spillover. And there was little real-time information for the public about what was happening on the freeway and surrounding roads,” Blakespear said.
The freeway closure on Dec. 5 was the third in the region lasting multiple hours since October.
“The one on Dec. 5 was rather extraordinary in terms of how many hours, and the fact we didn't communicate to drivers. We didn't prevent people from coming onto the freeway, adding to the confusion,” said San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava.
LaCava and the other elected officials who signed the letter questioned how freeway closures are managed, how decisions are made in real time, how to reopen freeways quickly and how public communications are handled.
The elected officials also want to know if mass text alerts or additional signage regarding freeway closures is a future possibility.
“Our goals here are simple — it's to protect public safety, limit closures whenever possible, and improve management of and communication about freeway closures when they do have to happen,” Blakespear said of the letter.
KPBS reached out to CHP, SDPD and Caltrans, but they did not immediately respond to our questions.
