Hydraulic Lift Hits Sign on Golden State Freeway, Snarling Traffic for 7 Hours

Traffic on the northbound Golden State Freeway in Sylmar was tied up for more than seven hours Wednesday after a tractor-trailer truck carrying a hydraulic lift hit an overhead sign, scattering debris over three lanes of the freeway.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred about 1 p.m. near the Foothill Freeway intersection. California Highway Patrol Officer Ralph Elvira said traffic, which slowed to a snail’s pace, was backed up past the Simi Valley Freeway interchange--about three miles.

Truck driver Skip Weill, 28, of Torrance said he was transporting the “scissors� lift from Irvine to Valencia when the lift somehow raised up and struck the top of the 25-foot-high sign.

Weill works for the Mac Rents company.

“It wasn’t that big of a bang, and, at first, I thought something had hit the truck,� he said. “I think the lift control just malfunctioned. I’m just glad nobody was hurt.�

Portions of the sign and the lift fell onto the freeway.

Dale Turner, a Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officer, said he was on his way home from work about 1 p.m. when he saw the lift suddenly spring up and hit the sign.

“Debris was flying all over the place,� he said. “Cars were veering every which way.�

Turner said he stopped, made sure the driver was not injured, and then called the California Highway Patrol and the state Department of Transportation.

“It’s a miracle nobody was hurt,� he said.

The two right lanes of the freeway were closed immediately and the other three lanes were closed between 7 and 8 p.m. while Caltrans crews worked to clean up debris and remove the 30-foot by 10-foot sign. A Caltrans worker, Eladio Martinez, said there was considerable damage to the structure of the 17,000-pound sign, which covers five freeway lanes.

The freeway was reopened at 8:12 p.m., the CHP said.