Crews worked Friday to clear a landslide that spilled dirt and boulders onto two freeway transition roads in San Dimas, shutting off the connectors and slowing morning and afternoon commutes.
“They’re out there right now – they have bulldozers,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Krystal Carter. “Caltrans is out there with the geologists, doing their thing.”
The hillside near Interstate 10 and California 57 collapsed shortly before 8: 40 a.m. Thursday, knocking over a light pole and affecting transition roads on the westbound Interstate 10 and northbound California 71 connectors to the northbound 57.
CHP officials say it will take at least a week until the roads are clear for traffic.
There were no reports of anyone being hurt or buildings damaged, but the landslide slowed traffic to a crawl Thursday.
Commuters were encouraged to take alternate routes, such as Interstate 15 north to the 210 Freeway, or California 60 to the northbound Interstate 605 to the 210. Commuters can still access eastbound Interstate 10.
Drivers may also take southbound 57 and use another exit to get on the northbound side, or exit at Towne Avenue from the westbound 10 and take surface streets to reach the 57 again, Carter said.
[Updated at 10:34 a.m.: If it rains Friday afternoon as expected, crews would stop work and cover the sinkhole with a nearly 80,000-square-feet plastic tarp, said Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler.
“We’ve got about 2,500 cubic yards of rock, dirt and debris out there," he said. "It’s equivalent to a four-story apartment building.” Trucks drove into the area every few minutes to pick up dirt and carry it to a dumping site, he said.]
— Amina Khan