Overturned big-rig, car fire, wayward sweeper contribute to tough Sacramento freeway commute
A series of crashes on freeways in the heart of Sacramento made for a challenging commute Friday morning.
Officials said a big-rig crash followed by a car fire on Interstate 5 shut down all southbound lanes of the freeway while nearby crews responded to a street sweeper that was “hanging” over an elevated portion of the Capital City Freeway at Southside Park.
The big-rig crash and car fire happened early during the morning rush hour on I-5 near Sutterville Road, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers we dispatched to the area just after 4 a.m. for a semi-truck carrying hay that had overturned and struck a vehicle.
About two hours later, a motorist struck in traffic reported a car on fire several miles ahead along southbound I-5 at Garden Highway, according to the CHP. Details about the fire were not known., which shut down the three inside lanes.
Crews had shut down all lanes of the freeway before Sutterville just before 6 a.m. but Caltrans said just before 9:30 a.m. that all lanes on the five-lane expressway were open as of 9:30 a.m.
Meanwhile, crews also responded to a report of a street sweeper that had collided with a concrete divider on the westbound Highway 50 portion of the Capital City Freeway just before the connector to I-5. According to the CHP, the sweeper was “hanging” over the elevated freeway near the Fifth Street on-ramp. According to the CHP, the crash had damaged about 10 feet of the guardrail that overlooks Southside Park.
Images from a Caltrans traffic camera showed the sweeper facing the wrong way with its front cab sticking out from the freeway several feet and fuel leaking from the vehicle. The CHP said the leaking gasoline had been contained to the roadway and was being cleaned up.
The transition from Capital City Freeway to southbound Interstate 5 was expected to remain closed until 11 a.m.
No injuries in any of the crashes were reported, according to the Sacramento Fire Department.
This story was originally published August 23, 2024 at 7:48 AM.
