An innovative new gate has been installed on the 5 Freeway in Castaic in an effort to allow drivers to turn around in the event of a Grapevine closure, officials said Friday.

The turnaround gate allows northbound traffic on the 5 Freeway to cross the median and turn around during road closures due to snow in the Grapevine, according to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

“If snow and ice close down the roads in the higher passes, drivers are kind of stuck there,” said Michael Comeaux, public information officer for Caltrans. “There’s not many places to turn around in that area.”

Caltrans announced the newly-installed median gate on Twitter.

When I-5 closes due to ice/snow at the #Grapevine, this #innovation will help us turn around NB cars&trucks to SB lanes in #Castaic. Today #Caltrans and @CHP_Newhall inspected a new gate we installed in I-5 median barrier. Creates an easy turnaround. @CaltransDist6 pic.twitter.com/WoRqMlDUFF

— Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) October 16, 2019

The new median looks ordinary, but can swing open on hinges and allow traffic to cross from one side of the freeway to the other, according to Caltrans.

It has been installed on the 5 Freeway just north of Lake Hughes Road. The plan is to use this gate to allow traffic to turn around when the Tejon Pass is closed due to adverse weather conditions such as snow and icy roads, according to Caltrans officials.

“This new gate is part of the Operation Snowflake plan. It allows even large vehicles to turn around, allowing us to control traffic in a more efficient way,” Comeaux said. “CHP expressed a strong interest in having a gate of this kind, or some way to turn traffic around.”

Operation Snowflake is the name for the California Highway Patrol’s protocol for traffic control and safety during dangerous weather conditions in the Tejon Pass and the Grapevine.

The plan involves shutting down the freeway and turning traffic around. This new gate will assist with redirecting traffic southbound in Castaic during road closures, according to Caltrans.

This new addition was part of a larger construction project that’s been happening along the 5 Freeway for the last two years. Caltrans has been repaving and repairing the highway along a 16-mile stretch since the summer of 2017. The project spans from just south of where the 14 Freeway meets I-5 to slightly north of Lake Hughes Road, according to Comeaux.

The repaving project, which has caused off-and-on lane closures, was originally scheduled to last two years and should be completed within the next six weeks, according to Caltrans officials.

Approximately 200,000 vehicles travel through Santa Clarita on the 5 Freeway every day, with about one in five being freight trucks, according to Comeaux.

For more information on Operation Snowflake visit here.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.