Following a closure of the Grapevine portion of the 5 Freeway overnight due to snow, the California Highway Patrol began escorting vehicles in both directions early Tuesday morning.
The CHP closed the road about 8 p.m. Monday due to snow from the cold winter storm that lingered over the region:
But starting Tuesday morning, the CHP began escorting vehicles in groups of 100 through the snowy Grapevine in both directions between Grapevine Road in Kern County and Parker Road in Castaic, the agency said.
After telling drivers to turn around throughout the night, the CHP began bringing drivers through at 4:22 a.m.
The escorts of 100 vehicles at a time in each direction were continuing as of 5:30 a.m., the CHP reported.
The CHP reported at 5:35 a.m. that traffic was backed up on the Grapevine because several big-rig drivers waiting for escorts had fallen asleep in their trucks and had to be woken up by officers.
