UPDATE: Ygnacio Valley Road Partially Closed From Truck-Pole Crash

A garbage truck crashed into a power pole at 5 a.m. Friday, closing all but one lane of eastbound Ygnacio Valley Road, snarling the morning commute and extending into the evening commute.

The truck struck a retaining wall and bounced into a critical power pole. It knocked out power to John Muir Medical Center, according to a post on the Walnut Creek Police Association blog.

The garbage truck fell into a ravine and officials are trying to remove it from the area. PG&E is also on scene, trying to restore the damaged pole, Walnut Creek Police Sgt. Steve Gorski said.

At 3:20 p.m., crews were still repairing the pole.

Walnut Creek police said Friday afternoon all westbound lanes were open but only one eastbound lane.

At mid-afternoon on Friday, easbound traffic on Ygnacio Valley Road was jammed from Marchbanks Road to Civic Drive. That's because traffic was narrowed from three lanes to one lane at Marchbanks.

Police suggested Treat Boulevard as an alternate route.

A lone dispatcher was overwhelmed by 9-1-1 calls in the morning and "a skeleton crew of graveyard police officers all responded to the scene to help the trapped motorist and control traffic for the thousands of cars involved in the morning commute," stated the police association blog. 

The need for an efficient response to such an emergency makes the case for appropriate staffing of police and other essential city services, the police association argued.