Caltrans Worker Breaks Leg in Fall Off Freeway Embankment

CERRITOS, CA - A Caltrans contract worker fell down a freeway embankment and broke his leg Wednesday in Cerritos, not far from the spot where a truck had crashed over the side of a freeway transition road, authorities said.

The worker was doing electrical work on the right shoulder of the northbound San Gabriel River (605) Freeway just south of Artesia Bouelvard just before 1 p.m. when he fell, according to Caltrans spokesman Micole Alfaro.

The injured man, whose name and age were not immediately available, was taken to a hospital for treatment of a broken leg, Alfaro said.

The fall was not believed to have been directly related to a nearby crash that occurred about 12:35 p.m. involving a big rig that went over the side of the transition road from the southbound San Gabriel River (605) Freeway to the eastbound Artesia (91) Freeway, according to Alfaro. It was possible, however, that the injured worker had been somehow distracted by the wreck, Alfaro said.

The transition road was closed until about 5 p.m. while crews worked to clear the scene.

-- City News Service, photo via Shutterstock