Handful of Applegate Square businesses and Bell Lane will reopen today

Officials will remove the barricades blocking Bell Lane in Atwater this morning, allowing closed businesses in the Applegate Square shopping center to reopen.

Panda Express and McDonald’s will remain closed, but other businesses such as Togo’s Sandwiches and 7-Eleven will reopen, California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Zuniga said.

Businesses behind the AM-PM mini-mart also all will open today, including Starbucks. Crews are working to lay gravel and create a road adjacent to AM-PM for a back entrance to the shopping center that includes Starbucks and Tractor Supply.

The road and businesses have remained closed since Tuesday when a tanker truck carrying about 9,000 gallons of gasoline overturned and burst into flames, prompting multiple explosions. The driver, 57-year-old Kamkyo Ramon Gnotsavath of Hughson, died in the incident.

The Applegate Road ramps from Highway 99 will remain closed until the road is repaired, officials have said. There’s no estimated time for them to reopen.

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Handful of Applegate Square businesses and Bell Lane will reopen today."