All lanes of northbound 5 Freeway in Castaic to be shut down nightly for Route Fire repairs

All lanes of the northbound 5 Freeway through Castaic will be shut down every night, starting tonight, so Caltrans can repair damage caused by the Route Fire.

The Route Fire burned 5,208 acres and was declared 100% contained five days after it erupted in Castaic. Early on in the firefight, the flames had jumped the freeway, severely compromising the retaining walls. Two northbound lanes of the freeway have been closed since.

The largest wall in need of repairs is 1,400 feet long, and the other is 400 feet long, according to Caltrans, and some of the vertical steel columns were warped by the fire. The heat of the fire may have also been why the cracks in the asphalt road where it meets the concrete shoulder have widened to two inches. Caltrans says much of the timber lagging fell off the while, while the remaining boards have burned.

Thursday night's closure was between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. Friday, during which 2,400 feet of asphalt concrete was placed in an already excavated section that is currently under construction.

In Phase 2, Caltrans will shut down all northbound lanes each night starting Sunday through Sept. 15 so the existing asphalt shoulder can be ground to place a structural section for 6,000 feet just north of the concrete section, and to restripe lanes. The closures will begin at midnight each night through 10 a.m. the next morning. On Sept. 15, three lanes of the northbound 5 Freeway will be open to traffic.

Caltrans plans to analyze steel samples and concrete in order to determine permanent solutions for the freeway. Repairs could take until mid-November, according to Caltrans.

Motorists were urged to take alternate routes such as SR-126 to the 101 Freeway, or the 14 Freeway to SR-138, or SR-58.