Freeway death snarls commute

An apparent suicide on the freeway brought traffic largely to a halt

Wednesday, forcing thousands of cars onto Costa Mesa streets as

drivers sought alternate routes.

The backup on the southbound San Diego Freeway (405) stretched for

miles from the Fairview Road exit, where shortly after 5 a.m. a woman

leapt to her death from a Hummer limousine traveling at 65 mph and

was struck by several vehicles, authorities said.

On the freeway, southbound traffic was funneled into a single lane

near Fairview, causing a backup to the junction of the 405 and Garden

Grove (22) freeways, California Department of Transportation

spokeswoman Pam Gorniak said. A SigAlert was in effect from about

5:30 to 10:45 a.m.

Trina Randoe, a passenger who was stuck on the 405 from the 22 to

Harbor Boulevard, said her trip took two hours. In that time, Randoe

traveled about nine miles.

Shutting down all but one of the 405’s southbound lanes meant

heavier traffic on streets that surround the freeway.

Streets in Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Westminster were

affected by the closure, Costa Mesa transportation manager Peter

Naghavi said.

Costa Mesa is right in the middle of those cities, and traffic

spilled off the freeway onto local streets. Adams and Victoria

avenues were particularly jammed, Naghavi said.

One driver, Huntington Beach resident Laura Chetkovich, said she

“jig-jagged” around surface streets and the freeway before needing to

buy gas at the Arco station near Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Avenue.

She said her commute started around the intersection of Beach

Boulevard and Adams Avenue.

“It’s been gnarly, yeah. It’s been horrible,” Chetkovich said.

Naghavi said he had few options to address the traffic jam. Some

Costa Mesa intersections have cameras hooked up to closed-circuit

television that can be monitored for problems, and the city can

adjust the timing of street signals to compensate for congestion.

Wednesday, Naghavi said, the city did not alter any traffic signal

schedules.

“There’s only so much you can do, because all of a sudden with no

notice, you have thousands of cars,” Naghavi said.