Tar Gums Up Freeways 18 Hrs.

An oozing tar spill at the Harbor and Santa Monica freeways created an 18-hour tangle at the busy downtown interchange today, after a tanker truck carrying 3,500 gallons heavy crude overturned Sunday night. Morning commuters found the transition roads from the Santa Monica Freeway to the southbound Harbor Freeway and the Washington Boulevard on-ramp to the southbound Harbor closed all morning by the SigAlert, as Caltrans workers scraped up the mess.

No one was injured when the truck overturned, but as the oil leaked from the heated tanker, it cooled to the same tarry consistency that recently closed the 405 Freeway near the airport for almost an entire day after a tanker spill there, the California Highway Patrol said.