Accident and leak slow traffic

Mike Swanson

A truck carrying 17 tons of concrete flipped on Laguna Canyon Road

and a Downtown gas line broke within 30 minutes of each other on

Thursday, closing traffic in two of the city’s most congested areas

at 9 a.m., one of its most congested times.

The truck flipped on its side after the driver said he lost his

brakes while exiting the toll road onto Laguna Canyon Road just

before 8 a.m., Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. The driver suffered only a

cut on his arm, but all the concrete in his truck spilled onto the

northbound side of the road, and the truck’s diesel tank emptied onto

the southbound side.

Laguna Beach police issued a Sig Alert that all northbound traffic

on Laguna Canyon Road would be closed for an undetermined amount of

time, but the fuel spill was quickly cleaned and dammed, allowing a

short closure to southbound traffic. Northbound traffic didn’t reopen

until 10:30 a.m., about 30 minutes after all Downtown roads were

reopened after the gas leak, which was reported at 8:27 a.m.

“The city had to escort the gas crew through all the traffic in

the canyon to get them to the gas leak expeditiously,” Kravetz said.

“It was a crazy morning.”

Contractors installing underground utilities in the alley between

Forest Avenue and Third Street hit and punctured a small gas line,

emitting fumes that could be smelled on Forest Avenue until about 10

minutes after the gas was shut off at 9:18 a.m.

Officers closed traffic in the surrounding area so any sparks from

vehicles couldn’t ignite the fumes. No people were evacuated as a

result of the leak, Kravetz said, but he did have to ask a man to put

out his cigarette.

The city contractors responsible for the leak apparently took

every precaution to steer clear of the gas line, which was marked,

but hit it anyway, Director of Public Works Steve May said.

“The gas company will see if there was any infraction,” Capt.

Danell Adams said. “At this point, it’s an accident and will be

treated as such unless something tells us otherwise.”

The police department had 21 officers on the scene to direct

Downtown traffic, Adams said.