60 Freeway reopens in both directions
The Eastside’s version of “Carmageddon” came to an end Saturday when Caltrans reopened the 60 Freeway in both directions.
The freeway, which normally carries about 225,000 cars a day, had been closed since Wednesday after a tanker truck carrying 8,800 gallons of gasoline caught fire. It exploded in a fireball under the Paramount Boulevard overpass in Montebello. The ferocious flames took hours to extinguish.
No one was hurt in the fire, but the closure of a key traffic artery clogged highways and surface streets for miles around and made for nightmarish commutes.
Westbound lanes were opened about 11 a.m., and eastbound lanes opened about 3 p.m.
The bridge over the eastbound lanes was demolished by workers in the last three days. Caltrans also has decided to demolish the bridge over the westbound lanes, but will do that work late at night to keep both sides of the freeway fully open during the day, said Patrick Chandler, a Caltrans spokesman.
The demolition work will require closure of the westbound lanes in the area from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Tuesday, Chandler said. One lane of the eastbound side will be open during those hours, he said.
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