Road Closures

Coldwater Canyon Drive, a key route used by commuters to get from the Valley into the Westside, was closed Friday after a driver apparently hit a tree and was killed, police said. The victim was ejected from the car at Loma Linda Drive in Beverly Hills, police said. The sole occupant of the car was found dead at the scene at 5:43 a.m., said Sgt. Mike Foxen, a spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department. Coldwater Canyon Drive was closed for several hours between Cherokee Lane and Beverly Drive while an investigation was conducted, Foxen said.

Reeling from a deluge of torrential rain and melting snow, much of the Pacific Northwest became a virtual island Thursday as massive flooding and avalanche conditions cut off most major transportation arteries. Workers struggled to open a possible 400-mile detour around a waterlogged 20-mile section of Interstate 5 near Chehalis in southwestern Washington. Seattle was cut off by road and rail from Portland to the south, and snow blocked most mountain passes to the east.

A freeway offramp was closed for several hours Sunday after a tanker truck spilled thousands of gallons of milk onto the roadway. The truck overturned about 6:20 a.m. on the 60 Freeway near Industry. No injuries were reported. As much as 6,000 gallons of milk may have spilled across the road and down a storm drain, police said. Caltrans crews closed an offramp to clean up the mess. The offramp was later reopened sometime before 2 p.m. The crash occurred in a construction zone, where lanes are restricted as the freeway is being widened for a carpool lane.

All three Southern California highways shut down because of snow and ice were reopened Thursday as the region's wet weather gave way to a slight warming trend. The 14 Freeway, Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 were all reopened in both directions, said Officer Alex Gonzalez of the California Highway Patrol. Weather conditions will remain dry, cool and blustery as the big arctic storm that brought heavy rain and snow moves east, forecasters said.

Several streets throughout the city will be shut down today for the third annual Los Angeles Half Marathon. The course for the event, set to begin at 7:30 a.m., will extend from the Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park to downtown. The following streets will be closed as early as 5 a.m. and will not reopen until 1 p.m.: Glendale Boulevard, Rowena Avenue, Silver Lake Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard up to Logan Street, Bellevue Avenue along Echo Park Lake, Temple Street, Figueroa Street, 2nd Street and Hill Street.

The 57 Freeway was strewn with broken concrete, nails and metal for several hours during the evening rush hour Monday after a tractor-trailer overturned and spilled its contents near Orangewood Avenue in the southbound lanes. Though several vehicles were involved, authorities said, it was unclear what caused the 4:50 p.m. accident or whether there were any injuries. "It looks like they were hauling broken-up cement from a workplace," a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. "There were nails and gravel in the lanes."

Thousands of beach-bound motorists seeking relief from near-record temperatures on Sunday instead baked on the 10 Freeway after a multi-vehicle accident closed the westbound lanes for more than an hour. The freeway was closed at Cloverfield Boulevard moments after a five-car crash, causing backups as well on nearby roads. Westbound traffic had backed up to Fairfax Avenue. The 405 Freeway interchange was also clogged. The freeway was reopened at 1 p.m. -- -- Julie Cart

Rush-hour traffic screeched to a virtual standstill Thursday in Laguna Beach after officials closed South Coast Highway because of a sewage spill that fouled two coves. "Traffic is gridlocked," said Sgt. Jason Kravetz, a spokesman for the Laguna Beach Police Department. "We've got everyone down there working on it." The leak occurred about 3:30 p.m.

Automobile traffic to and from Orange County's John Wayne Airport will be limited to one lane along a short stretch of Airport Way beginning Monday, airport officials said. The lane closures, designed to accommodate the first stage of an ambitious airport improvement project, are scheduled to last until the end of May. "We're not anticipating too much additional traffic," airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge said, "but if people are coming in the morning, they may be slowed down. It won't have a heavy impact, but people will notice it."