List of Major Road Closures After San Diego Devastating Floods and Storms
San Diego, CA: Heavy rains from a strong storm system hit San Diego County on Monday, flooding roads and resulting in several car accidents and road closures.
The worst of the storm hit early morning travelers, which led to several flash flood warnings across the county. By afternoon, city officials in San Diego were telling people to stay home unless they had to go somewhere urgently.
Some parts of North County, like Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, and Solana Beach, were under a flash flood watch. The National Weather Service said the warning should now cover Chula Vista, San Diego, and El Cajon until 12:45 p.m.
The downpour and the subsequent floods prompted many road closures across the county.
The California Highway Patrol reported numerous such instances of flooding during heavy rains Monday morning:
- Interstate 805 South at Imperial Avene (A rock slide has closed the off-ramp).
- I-15 North and Main Street (all lanes blocked).
- San Diego Mission Road between Fairmount & Caminito Yucatan.
- Ward Road at Camino Del Rio N.
- Avenida del Rio between Riverwalk Dr and Camino de la Reina.
- Mission Center Road between Hazard Center Drive and Camino De La Reina.
These roads were also closed:
- Hazard Center Drive between Avenida Del Rio and DoubleTree Hotel roundabout.
- Camino Del Esta between Station Village Lane and Camino De La Reina.
- Ward Road at Camino Del Rio North.
- Avenida del Rio between Riverwalk Drive and Camino de la Reina.
- Camino De La Reina between Camino De La Siesta and Avenida Del Rio.
- San Diego Mission Road between Fairmount Avenue and Caminito Yucatan.
- State Route 78 at El Camino Real (The eastbound lanes are all closed).
- SR-94 West between College Avenue and College Grove Way.
These are the major road closures that affected the entire County.
SR-94
Caltrans reported just before 4 p.m. that water had stopped all westbound lanes of SR-94 at College Avenue.
SR-78 in North County
The SR-78 at El Camino Real was completely closed due to floods, after being closed for months last year for flooding damage repairs. The stoppage occurred in both directions between College Boulevard and El Camino Real until 3:30 when officials declared that the freeway’s westbound lanes would reopen.
while of 7 p.m., the eastbound ramp onto SR-78 remained closed while Caltrans crews worked to clean debris, sediments, and potholes created by the floods. Traffic is being redirected to El Camino Real and then back to College.
Northbound I-15
Around 1:30 p.m., floods shut down all of northbound Interstate 15 at Main Street near National City. The flooded road stopped drivers in their tracks. No one knew when the lanes would be open again.
After a big rig accident at 3:35 p.m., the CHP closed all northbound lanes of I-15 at Interstate 8 because of a hazmat issue. Officials say that cleaning up the hazmat could take up to five hours. During that time, all lanes of the interstate going north would be stopped. At the moment, all traffic is being sent to Interstate 8.
Monday afternoon, the crash’s investigators said the tractor-trailer driver lost control in the heavy rain and went off to the right, hitting a fence and going down a slope. Nothing bad happened to the driver. The accident happened when it was raining hard, making the roads dangerous. The truck’s fuel tank was punctured while it was being towed, spilling fuel across the road. This made cleanup more difficult and led to a hazmat shutdown.
Read More: Dozens of Car Crashed on I-15 in Hesperia; Extreme Weather Conditions Responsible: CHP