6.5 C
New York

Eighteen Hour I-5 Shutdown Stranded Hundreds Of Truckers

Published:

Hundreds of truck drivers were forced to park their rigs for nearly a full day after winter weather forced the closure of I-5 from Ashland, Oregon to Redding, California, Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon.

The Oregon Department of Transportation and Caltrans coordinated to shut down the interstate due to dangerous weather conditions, leaving hundreds of drivers waiting at Exit 14 for an 18 hour stretch of time. ODOT and Caltrans closed down I-5 at 6:30 on Tuesday and did not reopen it fully until 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Many questioned why the interstate was closed for such a long period of time. ODOT explained, “Part of that is just the blizzard that was going on and also just some of the extractions that [Caltrans] needed to do as far as some of the big trucks on Anderson Grade between Klamath River and Yreka. [It was a] coordinated effort – wish they had gotten it open a little earlier.”

While many truckers were able to patiently wait out the weather delay, others were left scrambling to find parking, or worse, food.

The region received near record-levels of snowfall for a 24 hour period — 8.3 inches.

Sources:
The Record Searchlight
Mail Tribune
KTVL

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