SAN DIEGO — Northbound traffic began to flow freely on Interstate 15 near Imperial Avenue and Market Street around 4 p.m. Monday after flooding brought all lanes to a standstill for hours.
California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Jake Sanchez said the freeway was backed up for at least a few miles.
Around 4:15 p.m., the left lane of I-15 at Main Street was still blocked, but all other lanes had reopened, according to Caltrans. The rain had momentarily stopped around that time.
About 10 Caltrans workers appeared about waist-deep in water on the freeway around 1:30 p.m. and spent hours trying to clear storm drains. During the shutdown, some frustrated drivers got out of their cars as they waited.
Emergency crews were on the scene around 12:45 p.m. As part of the freeway was underwater, CBS 8 footage shows some cars still attempted to pass through in the early afternoon.
On the stretch of the freeway where the water had subsided, the road was covered with mud and tree limbs.
Sanchez said standstills like this can impact other freeways, too.
“When we have one shut down, it’s going to make every other freeway look the same,” Sanchez said.
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