Mayor Marsha McLean Addresses The SCV After The I-5 Disaster

 By: Marsha McLean 

Disaster can strike at the blink of an eye and you should know that being prepared for emergencies such as these is something our city works on every day.  The horrific accident that occurred on the evening of Friday October 12 involving 30 commercial vehicles and one passenger vehicle necessitated complete closure of the I-5 freeway just south of Santa Clarita.  

Much like the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the closure of Interstate 5 had a significant impact on traffic flow, for not only Santa Clarita and the Antelope Valley, but also for the estimated 225,000 motorists who utilize this section of the I-5 freeway everyday.  

The wreckage from the traffic incident and subsequent fires in the freeway tunnel made it impossible for first responders to enter the tunnel, put out the fires, assess damage and repair the roadway on Friday evening and all day Saturday.   

As a resident, you will be pleased to know that the response from your City was immediate.  Several key members of our Emergency Operations Team including Assistant City Manager Ken Striplin, Sheriff’s Captain Anthony LeBerge, Assistant Fire Chief Matt Gil, and Public Works Director Robert Newman, went directly to the site to survey the damage and strategize with the different agencies involved.  

This incident involved multiple public agencies at just about every level including: CHP, Cal Trans, Los Angeles County Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff, as well as the City of Santa Clarita and other locally elected officials. I have to say that the levels of cooperation and communication were amazing throughout this entire ordeal. This whole incident could have been much worse if not for the quick response, proactive work and creativity of these first responders. 

As of Saturday October 13th, the City’s Emergency Operations Center was fully engaged. City and Sheriff personnel spent the majority of their time on site with the other responding agencies.  The City’s Public Works department worked closely with the Sheriff’s Department to develop and implement our transportation plan to divert traffic through our City.  

With all of the southbound ramps on I-5 from Rye Canyon all the way down to Calgrove closed and with traffic being funneled through the City, our greatest test was upon us.  Cross town traffic was diverted along Magic Mountain Parkway to San Fernando Road and the 14 Freeway. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, our traffic engineers, along with the Sheriff’s Department worked to monitor, alter and control key intersections throughout town. The City also set-up detour signs and electronic message boards throughout the City. It was slow, but traffic did move. 

Sunday October 14th we started to understand more of the extent of the situation and the day was primarily spent planning for Monday’s commute. Not knowing whether the I-5 would be open or not, our Emergency Operations Team planned for every contingency to alleviate the anticipated congestion for Monday rush hour traffic.  

The City worked with Metrolink who authorized additional trains and trips out of Santa Clarita. To handle expected high volumes of Metrolink commuters, the City set up four new overflow parking lots with shuttles to each station. The City also enhanced our City bus service with Santa Clarita Transit as well.  

One of the key and primary considerations with this and really every emergency situation is the function of getting public information out to the public that is timely accurate and useful. With so many agencies involved it’s critical that our residents know what is happening. To this end, the City utilized every available avenue to get the word out in as quickly as possible:  

We continually updated our web site, at www.santa-clarita.com, which is also a resource to the community and especially in times of emergency.

We attended and participated in the multi-agency press conferences to ensure that the Los Angeles media was accurately reporting information as it affected us locally.  

We worked very closely with our local media. We’re fortunate to have hometown radio station KHTS – 1220 as a resource to broadcast up-to-date information to Santa Clarita residents on a continuous basis.   

SCVTV, Channel 20 was also a resource – cable casting coverage of press conferences and other relevant information all weekend long, as was the Signal and the Daily News.  

We were very fortunate that the “nightmare of a commute” we had prepared for did not happen on Monday October 15th.  Cal Trans was able to clear all lanes of travel in advance of the morning rush and open I-5.   

I also want to point out that this situation clearly illustrates our regional need for additional funding to finish constructing the east/west corridor linking I-5 and SR 14.  While we have made great progress in building the Cross Valley Connector, the City continues to seek additional funding to complete the roadway in a timely manner. 

I am very proud to know that we had a group of bright, capable people who worked tirelessly to ensure that had we been faced with a complete closure of the I-5 for one or more days we were completely prepared to deal with the situation and minimize impacts, as much as possible, on our residents.  

This incident serves as a reminder of how disaster can strike at any moment, but with the City Council’s guidance and leadership to be prepared, all the way through the organization, we have dedication, experience and wherewithal to effectively deal with any situation.