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Update:  All lanes of the northbound lanes of the Golden State Freeway near Dodger Stadium are open this morning, nearly three days after a fire sparked by the crash of a tanker closed down most of the freeway.

The northbound Golden State Freeway and half of the lanes on the southbound side remained closed near Dodger Stadium Monday, leaving the hundreds of thousands of commuters who normally use that stretch of road scrambling for alternatives following a spectacular weekend fire sparked by the crash of a tanker.

Caltrans officials were hoping to improve the closure situation by Tuesday but were making no promises.

The fire broke out late Saturday morning when a tanker truck overturned in a small tunnel connecting the northbound Glendale Freeway to the northbound lanes 5, spilling 8,500 gallons of gasoline, damaging the roadway and sending up columns of black smoke visible for miles.

Over the weekend, crews cleared debris from the tunnel, shored up compromised stretches of roadbed and began work removing the gasoline that flowed into storm drains and the Los Angeles River.

Contractors were called in to install emergency shoring in two tunnels under the freeway, a Caltrans official said. Those braces will block two transition ramps from the 2 to the 5 "for some weeks to come," said Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler.

In the meantime, the emergency braces will shore up the main freeway and allow traffic to begin flowing on the closed pair of southbound lanes, and all four northbound lanes, of the Golden State Freeway. Those have been closed since Saturday. The northbound Glendale and northbound Golden State connectors are closed indefinitely, officials said.

"Caltrans structural, design, maintenance, and construction engineers have instructed the contractor to construct a temporary system to support the structures which hold the lanes of northbound and southbound 5," Chandler said.

The heat from Saturday's tanker fire caused "extensive damage to the pavement, walls, support columns, drainage, and lighting within the tunnel," Chandler said. "We are urging people to take public transportation Monday, and consider taking the Metrolink trains... It's not going to be an easy day."

-- City News Service