The 10 Freeway closure due to damage from a massive weekend pallet fire started by an unknown arsonist underneath the raised freeway has not only affected 300,000 motorists each day but also has impacted local businesses near the downtown Los Angeles segment of the freeway.
Heavy commuter traffic that has diverted off the 10 and onto local streets, and fear of future fire hazards has meant trouble for the produce district, just north of the closed freeway along Olympic Boulevard and its side streets.
Produce distributors said they are already facing economic impacts from the 10 Freeway disaster, and longtime businesses located beneath the raised freeway — such as Recycled Movie Sets, which for years has used storage space beneath the 10 — are being asked to move out because property managers fear future hazards.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Monday, Nov. 13, asked businesses downtown to ask their employees to work remotely if practical — but fresh produce distribution businesses in L.A.’s sizable downtown produce district don’t have that option.
Three produce distributors located on the 2000 East Olympic Boulevard block worked as much as they could on Tuesday morning, Nov. 14. On one side of the property they could watch as Caltrans crews repaired the freeway. And on the other side, as employees moved boxes of fruits and vegetables, they saw bumper-to-bumper commuter traffic forced to find routes like Olympic Boulevard in Downtown L.A.
“This has affected all of us,” Arturo Romero, manager at Ventura Distribution, said in Spanish. “We can’t stop working because it would be unjust to our employees. No matter what time of day, the traffic is bad to come in and out. It’s a complaint that we’re beginning to get from clients.”
Lawrence Street, which these businesses use to bring in semi-trailer trucks to load and unload produce, has been closed off because of the freeway repairs. And clients are reluctant to do business with…
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