Swinging gate on 5 Freeway below Grapevine got drivers out of a jam

Caltrans officials and the motoring public are pronouncing a swinging gate recently installed on the 5 Freeway at the base of the Grapevine a success after it allowed northbound drivers to turn around instead of waiting potentially hours while the highway was cleared of snow on Thanksgiving.

Thursday, Nov. 28 marked the first time the 52-foot-long, five-ton, reinforced-steel gate was used. It is located 300 feet north of the Lake Hughes Road off-ramp north of Santa Clarita. When snow, mudslides, fire or other problems prompt the closure of the northbound lanes, a Caltrans worker with a key will unlock the pins, and several workers will then turn cranks and shove the gate open. The gate is on wheels and can be opened in minutes. Drivers will then cross the median and head back south.

“We thought we needed a way to turn people around,” Caltrans District 7 spokeswoman Lauren Wonder said Friday. “If we have a way to put people back southbound, then we won’t have the gridlock. This is a way to help alleviate the traffic problem and return people to someplace where they can get food and shelter and not just wait for (the freeway) to open, which can take hours. It worked very smoothly.”

Some motorists agreed.

“Love that new gate. Everyone is Castaic thanks you!!!” one person wrote on the District 7 Twitter feed at @CaltransDist7.

Wrote another: “That is awesome and glad to see it worked well.”

The gate was installed about a month ago during a paving project, Wonder said. It’s the first gate to be installed in Los Angeles County.

Caltrans tweeted videos showing cars and trucks turning around. Wonder said the gate reduced a potential hours-long wait to about 30 minutes. California Highway Patrol officers will direct traffic when the gate is opened so motorists who want to turn around won’t get stuck behind those who don’t.

There are a few similar gates along the 10 Freeway in the Banning-Beaumont area, said Terri Kasinga, spokeswoman for Caltrans District 8. They were installed so long ago that they have now sunk into the asphalt, and it would take several hours to pull them out. The gates would most likely be used for days-long closures, Kasinga said.

The gates might be impractical for the 15 Freeway in the Cajon Pass because the highway is divided in many places, Kasinga said.