Interstate 80, through the Sierra Nevada was mostly empty Sunday night, thanks to white-out conditions brought on by the latest storm, Caltrans said.
A 70-mile section of the road was shut down because Caltrans could not keep up with all the snow. The freeway was closed between Applegate in Placer County to the Nevada state line, according to the Caltrans website. The road re-reopened Monday morning.
Several motorists, including some Bay Area residents, were stranded as they tried to get home after a weekend getaway. Ivan rangel, of Oakland, was one of them. He stopped to get some self-tightening chains to use when traffic picks up again.
"It took me 15 minutes to do this," Rangel said, descibing the chain installation. "And I've seen guys take like an hour when they don't know how to do it."
Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol were trying to get the Interstate back open by 1:30 a.m. Monday.
