Castaic’s Busy Snow Days

Most of the time, Castaic is a mountain hamlet of a few hundred residents pressed hard against Interstate 5 at the southern end of the Grapevine.

But for two days this week, the one-stoplight town became a makeshift haven for hundreds of truckers stranded when snow and ice closed a 40-mile stretch of California’s major north-south artery.

Just about every street, parking lot and even the center median running down Castaic’s main street was filled with big rigs as sidelined drivers hunkered down for what turned out to be a long wait. Parked trucks lined miles of the freeway as drivers slumbered or walked along the shoulder, talking to one another until the road reopened.

Some had gambled that the freeway would remain closed only a few hours and decided it was better to wait than take hours-long detours along U.S. Highway 101 or Interstate 15.

For Paul Parks, a long-haul trucker from Tennessee who had just dropped off a load of aluminum piping in Los Angeles before heading to Northern California, the unexpected work stoppage gave him a chance to catch up on some sleep in the cab of his rig.

“You lose about $600 a day, but you make it up in rest, so why complain?” said Parks, who had been parked on the freeway shoulder since dawn on Monday. “It’s out of your hands. You need the money, but someone’s smarter than we are. They know the freeway’s not safe.”

Parks said he passed the time by sleeping, taking walks along the closed freeway and chatting with other truck drivers.

Although many drivers slept in their rigs, motel rooms in Castaic were filled and the fast-food restaurants that dot the town 29 miles north of Los Angeles were crowded.

“This is the longest I’ve seen it closed in 11 years,” said Kristie Rowe, a waitress at Tommie’s Burgers.

“Every time there’s a mudslide or an accident up there, the freeway’s closed but never for this long.”

Across the street, Mike’s Diner usually has plenty of open seats. But over the last few days there’s been a wait because of the crush of truckers and other stranded motorists coming in for hamburgers, pancakes and plenty of coffee.

“When they stop the freeway, they stop everything -- except us,” said Susan Chiricosta, a waitress at the 24-hour diner. “Business is good.”

Chiricosta said most of her customers were in good spirits but frustrated because the California Highway Patrol could not tell them when the freeway would reopen. Rumors that the ice had cleared swept through the community, only to be debunked by officials.

“The CHP keeps promising what time the road will be open and the drivers stay awake, then when they finally do reopen it, they’ll be tired,” Chiricosta said. “It’s so unpredictable.”

Trucker Orlando Larios of Long Beach said he considered taking an alternative route, but scotched the idea.

“It’s very expensive to wait around here,” said Larios, who was hauling a load of nuts from the City of Commerce to Lodi. “I can’t believe they’re not clearing the road. I don’t know why they don’t have the machines to de-ice it.”

Maria Flores, a front-desk clerk at the 51-room Castaic Inn, said the motel was running out of supplies, such as laundry detergent and cleaning agents.

“We’ve been sold out ever since they closed the freeway, mostly with families traveling,” Flores said. “It’s been a good few days.”

Farab Anand, a clerk at 7-Eleven, said the store had a run on coffee and doughnuts, as stranded motorists tried to fight off the winter chill. Snacks, such as burritos and chips, also were popular.

Castaic merchants are used to such snow days because their town is the last major stop along Interstate 5 before the Grapevine ascends through Gorman to the Tejon Pass.

The freeway was closed Monday after a storm dumped snow in higher elevations. While the snow was cleared, officials kept it closed because they feared icy conditions could cause accidents.

Forecasters said there should be a brief break in the stormy weather today, but there’s a chance of light rain and snow by tonight. Heavier rain and snow are expected Thursday night and Friday, and there’s a chance of precipitation Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

With this winter’s many storms, Interstate 5 has been closed more often this season than in years past, said Tammy Ghadran, general manager of the Comfort Inn in Castaic, whose 120 rooms were filled Monday night.

“This is the third or fourth time they’ve closed the freeway this winter,” she said. “Usually, it’s four or five times in a whole year.”

Truckers are not the only ones stymied by the weather.

Rafael Orozco, who lives north of Bakersfield, was driving home with family members after visiting relatives in Tijuana. But after spending $108 for a motel room Monday night for seven adults and a newborn baby, the pistachio farm worker spent Tuesday morning anxiously awaiting word on the freeway.

“Maybe it’ll be open by 12 or 1 this afternoon,” Orozco said, huddling in the parking lot of a fast-food outlet. “If not, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t want to spend another day here. It’s too expensive.”

Danh Hong, a property investor from Santa Ana, decided to turn around and head back to Orange County on Tuesday morning rather than wait out the weather. He had been on his way to Taft for business but after fighting traffic all morning, he decided not to waste his time taking alternate routes.

“I’ve been here two or three hours,” Hong said. “I think it’s better to go home and wait until tomorrow.”

A few minutes later, at 10:30 a.m., Highway Patrol officers with bullhorns drove up and down Castaic Road announcing that the freeway would open in 10 minutes.

Truckers who were milling about scurried to their rigs, many parked with their grilles facing north. In minutes, a long convoy of rigs bearing wooden pallets, televisions and granite slabs formed on the two-lane street. Twenty minutes later, Castaic was just another sleepy, roadside town.

“It’s great,” said Allen Smith of Hayward, who had delivered a crane to a customer in Los Angeles and was heading back to Northern California. “I get to go home.”