MIGRAINE FOR MOTORISTS DOWNED CRANE ON 405 CAUSES MASSIVE JAM.Byline: TONY CASTRO and RICK COCA Staff Writers SHERMAN OAKS -- A 100-foot crane working at the 405/101 interchange toppled onto the 405's northbound lanes Friday, blocking traffic for hours and creating a commuter nightmare at one of the nation's busiest intersections. The 1 p.m. accident just south of the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. shut down all northbound and two southbound lanes, trapping the crane operator for about an hour and causing a big rig Big Rig was a punk band from the San Francisco Bay Area fronted by singer/songwriter Jesse Michaels. Michaels performed with the group after the break up of his previous project, Operation Ivy, and before forming the band Common Rider. and sport utility vehicle to collide. ``It was absolutely a small miracle that no one was killed,'' said Capt. Carlos Calvillo, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. . Traffic was backed up past Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX -- about 17 miles -- until the lanes reopened for good about 4:45 p.m., said Officer Leland Tang of the California Highway Patrol. Pua Toa, 54, of Carson was hauling 7,800 gallons of highly combustible com·bus·ti·ble adj. Capable of igniting and burning. n. A substance that ignites and burns readily. jet fuel to Van Nuys Airport Van Nuys Airport (IATA: VNY, ICAO: KVNY, FAA LID: VNY) is a public airport located in Van Nuys, California in the San Fernando Valley, within the Los Angeles city limits. when the crane came down, just missing his vehicle. At first, he thought the crane was just turning, but then saw it falling toward the freeway and said, ``Oh, man, this is for real.'' ``I just saw the crane going down and I hit my brakes really hard,'' he said. ``I was really close and lucky it didn't hit my truck.'' More than 50 firefighters responded, and rescue crews freed the crane operator, Matt Dinaso, 44, of Sylmar and took him by helicopter to UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. , where he was listed in serious but stable condition. It was unclear what caused the accident, which is being investigated by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) enforces the U.S. state of California's occupational and public safety laws and provides information and consultative assistance to employers, workers, and the public regarding workplace safety and health and the state Department of Transportation. The crane, which weighs 40 tons to 50 tons, was designated for rough terrain, meaning it could handle the soft dirt it stood on at the interchange project site. The scene changed little during the afternoon hours, even as the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans and private contractors slaved over the slow, tedious work of righting the rig and removing it from the freeway. As word of the accident spread, commuters scrambled to figure out how they'd get home -- with traffic quickly clogging on the various canyon roads from West L.A. to the Valley and along Pacific Coast Highway Pacific Coast Highway may refer to:
``I'm going to leave at 3. There are two other people in the office who go that way, and I told them to leave early, too,'' said Sarah Warner, a banking executive from Valencia who commutes to Beverly Hills. ``I want to beat everyone else to the canyon so I can get home before midnight. It's my son's 16th birthday and we're going to dinner.'' Traffic that is already heavily congested con·gest·ed adj. Affected with or characterized by congestion. congested ENT adjective Referring to a boggy blood-filled tissue. See Nasal congestion. at what is one of the country's busiest interchanges -- with more than half a million daily commuters -- made the typically grueling Friday evening commute even worse. ``It is a really bad spot for this to happen,'' said Officer Joe Barr of the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division, which helped deal with problems in and around the site. Officials initially opened the three northbound lanes about 3:45 p.m. before closing them again about 30 minutes later. They reopened them for good at 4:45 p.m., and disgruntled dis·grun·tle tr.v. dis·grun·tled, dis·grun·tling, dis·grun·tles To make discontented. [dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see drivers finally began the slow crawl up the 405. The connector to the 101 opened about 7:15 p.m. As motorists passed the crash site, a handful of them released their tension by hurling obscenities at the downed crane and those working to right it. The crane -- being used in Caltrans' $46 million, two-year construction project to ease congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. at the interchange -- belonged to subcontractor Steve P. Rados Inc., a Southern California-based heavy engineering construction company, according to its Web site. Company officials were unavailable for comment. Champion Cranes of Pacoima was drafted to move the crane. About 3:45 p.m., an earthmover earth·mov·er n. A machine, such as a bulldozer or backhoe, that is used for digging or pushing earth. earth placed its bucket against the end of the crane's extension and pushed it a foot at a time until it was safely back onto the work site and off the freeway. Using a larger 70-ton crane, workers planned to remove the arm of the damaged crane before righting it. Roxanne Bautista and Ana Valenzuela, both 18 and of Delano, were driving to town to visit friends when they got stuck on the 405. ``When we got here,'' Bautista said of the scene, ``we said, We ain't ever moving to L.A.'' Staff Writers Eugene Tong and Rachel Uranga contributed to this report. tony.castro(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3761 CAPTION(S): 4 photos, map Photo: (1 -- color) Los Angeles firefighters attempt to rescue the trapped operator of a crane that flipped over Friday on the northbound lanes of the 405 at the 101 interchange. ``It was absolutely a small miracle that no one was killed,'' said L.A. fire Capt. Carlos Calvillo. (2 -- color) Motorists are stuck Friday on the northbound lanes of the 405 at the 101 interchange. At one point, traffic was backed up past LAX -- about 17 miles. (3) The California Highway Patrol closed the southbound lanes of the San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. to allow a helicopter to make a landing on the northbound side to airlift the injured crane operator. (4) L.A. firefighters rescue the operator of a crane that toppled onto the 405. Matt Dinaso, 44, of Sylmar was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he was in serious but stable condition. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News Map: Construction crane topples into northbound 405 Daily News |
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