EISPIRATEN

Hikin_Jim wrote:Hey, Simonov,

Aren't you supposed to be at Johns Meadow today?

drhabes1 wrote:Trying to gather some beta for a possible hike out of the Dawson Saddle area. Has the FS opened the gate at Vincent Gap? Any info would be appreciated.

MtnMan wrote:I heard the road is not repairable, so they are building a tunnel from La Canada to Switzers.

MtnMan wrote:I heard the road is not repairable, so they are building a tunnel from La Canada to Switzers.

ACH won't reopen this summer

Motorcyclists, bicyclists, hikers ignoring closure signs, officials say.

By Megan O'Neil, megan.oneil@latimes.com

Angeles Crest Highway (SR-2) is likely to remain closed until November as crews continue to repair major road damage caused by heavy winter storms, a Caltrans spokesperson said Friday.

And the painstaking work is being slowed by motorcyclists and hikers who are ignoring closure signs and are entering dangerous stretches of the mountain pass, officials said.

The reopening of the 66-mile Angeles Crest Highway has been delayed repeatedly since the Station fire roared through Angeles National Forest in August, burning more than 160,000 acres and searing miles of pavement, guardrails, road signs and markers. The damage was compounded by back-to-back rainstorms and subsequent debris flows that washed out large patches of the highway.

The $16.5 million in repairs is being completed under contract by Thousand Oaks-based Burn Pacific Construction.

"It is really an evolving situation," Caltrans spokesperson Patrick Chandler said. "It is on a mountainside so it is really difficult [work]. The geotechnical crew has found a lot of problem spots that are going to require a great deal of time."

One of the most severe washouts is near Brown Canyon, just beyond the Angeles Crest Ranger Station, Chandler said.

"They have made a lot of progress, but they have to rebuild the hillside just below the road, almost 200 feet up to the roadside," Chandler said.

At another significant washout about 10 miles north, crews are constructing support walls to buttress the roadway, Chandler said.

In March, Big Tujunga Road, Angeles Forest Highway and Upper Tujunga Canyon Road were reopened, providing an alternative, albeit circuitous route, to popular Angeles National Forest destinations including Mt. Waterman ski resort and Newcomb's Ranch Restaurant and Bar. Nevertheless, the ongoing closure of Angeles Crest Highway has struck a heavy blow to businesses along the highway that depend on the thousands of day trippers who typically crowd its two lanes each weekend.

Motorcyclists, bicyclists and hikers are eager to see the Crest reopen. La Cañada Flintridge resident Trent Sanders, who frequented the highway before it closed, said it is frustrating not to have access to some of the best trails in Angeles National Forest.

"You have the Silver Moccasin Trail, you have the Pacific Crest Trail, you have the Gabrielino Trail and people want to hike those things," Sanders said. "And you can't."

Some people are so impatient for the road to reopen that they are ignoring road and forest closure signs entirely.

"This has been a big problem particularly during holiday weekends," said John D. Wagner, an assistant public affairs officer for Angeles National Forest.

Hundreds of hikers have ventured into closed portions of the forest, Wagner said, adding that trespassers risk a verbal warning and a minimum fine of $75.

In addition, bicyclists and motorists have been spotted on precarious portions on Angeles Crest Highway, officials said. One motorcycle crew posted their illegal expedition on the Internet.

"They came across the closure at Mt. Wilson, went around the closure, and came to a spot where there was a huge crevice in the road," Chandler said. "They used the barricade to go over that crevice."

They proceeded down the highway before happening upon a work site. The California Highway Patrol was notified and the motorcyclists were cited.

Ignoring closure signs is dangerous, and costs precious time and money, Chandler said.

"A lot of [work crews] are coming up and down the road," Chandler said. "If motorcyclists, bicyclists and hikers are in the closure that creates a delay because the workers are not going to work because they don't want to hurt anyone, they want to maintain safety."

Zach wrote:I don't really understand... it seems like the article is blaming the prolonged closure and delays on the "hikers, bikers and motorcyclists." Gimme a break. As if.

PackerGreg wrote:How difficult could it be? The road....................

Zé wrote:that upper section is terrible! I get it hasn't been taken care of in a while, but when I was riding up there I could hear constant rockfall- I mean the road is right next to vertical cliffs cut out of Islip, it's never going to be "stable" unless they further disfigure the mountain above it.

PackerGreg wrote:
I find it interesting that the job was farmed out to a contractor. CalTrans can do this themselves. And with all this federal "Recovery & Reinvestment" money being printed, they are working major projects all over the state. CalTrans may have already been nearing completion had they been allowed to work, but not without federal funds.

Zach wrote:WTF?! Seems kind of ash-backwards that Cal-Trans can do a quicker (maybe better) job than a private firm. This just goes against everything I've known and come to believe about the capitalistic society I live in. The foundation of my peaceful existence has just been shaken to the core.

Hikin_Jim wrote:

Zach wrote:WTF?! Seems kind of ash-backwards that Cal-Trans can do a quicker (maybe better) job than a private firm. This just goes against everything I've known and come to believe about the capitalistic society I live in. The foundation of my peaceful existence has just been shaken to the core.

Why, yes! You're right of course. Just look at how well the government managed the Station Fire. Thank goodness they didn't contract out fire suppression!

AlanK wrote:

Hikin_Jim wrote:

Zach wrote:WTF?! Seems kind of ash-backwards that Cal-Trans can do a quicker (maybe better) job than a private firm. This just goes against everything I've known and come to believe about the capitalistic society I live in. The foundation of my peaceful existence has just been shaken to the core.

Why, yes! You're right of course. Just look at how well the government managed the Station Fire. Thank goodness they didn't contract out fire suppression!

Yes, they could have contracted fire suppression out to BP. Instead of a little 160K acre BBQ, they could have eliminated the entire Angeles National Forest.

Highway closures confuse, frustrate

By Megan O'Neil

With a small day pack strapped to his back, Scott Groves set out from his home in Pasadena to the foot of Mt. Wilson Trail in Sierra Madre. He climbed seven miles to the top of the mountain and then proceeded down Mt. Wilson Road before happening upon the closed portion of Angeles Crest Highway (SR-2).

The former Boy Scout and U.S. Army soldier had already been hiking for five hours, and it was too far to turn back.

"It wasn't even on my radar that this was closed," Groves said as he stopped to fill his water pouch near the intersection of Angeles Crest Highway and Angeles Forest Highway. "I had read that it was clear to come up from the Palmdale side so I figured everything here was cool."

About 20 miles of the 66-mile mountain pass, from La Cañada Flintridge to Mt. Wilson Road, and 25% of Angeles National Forest remain off limits to the public as construction crews rebuild large washouts caused by winter storms. The $16.5 million in repairs, contracted out to Thousand Oaks-based Burns Pacific Construction, is expected to be completed in November.

Meanwhile, the closures continue to frustrate and confuse those seeking to access some of the most popular portions of the San Gabriel Mountains. Hundreds of motorcyclists, bicyclists and hikers have been spotted in restricted areas, according to Caltrans and U.S. Forest Service officials.

Some of the trespassing seems to be due to genuine misunderstanding about the status of different portions of the road and forest. In late June, Caltrans Public Information Officer Patrick Chandler intercepted a dozen family members setting off on a hike.

"They parked at Angeles Forest Highway where it meets Angeles Crest and walked up to the closure and were going to go down Switzer Falls," Chandler said.

He had to explain to the family that the popular trail was closed. But the hikers were not alone in their confusion. Road repair workers reported that Los Angeles County public safety personnel have attempted to respond to emergency calls by traveling north on Angeles Crest Highway, only to hit road blocks.

L.A. County Fire Battalion Chief Mitch Brookhyser confirmed one such incident. On May 31, units from La Cañada's Station #82 responded to a call of a motorcycle that had gone off the side of Angeles Crest, Brookhyser said. The responders were forced to stop at a locked gate. The call was canceled minutes later, he said.

Many of those entering closed portions of the highway and forest, however, are doing so with overt disregard for clearly posted signs. A Las Vegas motorcycle crew posted on their blog a dozen photos of themselves circumventing closures and being cited by the California Highway Patrol during an outing in May.

And on a recent afternoon Jim Blake, a Lake View Terrace resident and an avid bicyclist, stopped to watch workers repair a 200-foot-deep washout near Brown Canyon, the largest of the two dozen damaged spots. He had pedaled 27 miles, traveling on Big Tujunga Canyon Road, Angeles Forest Highway and Angeles Crest Highway.

"Big Tujunga Canyon was open," Blake said. "Then they had some signs on Angeles Forest Highway that it was closed ahead, but cars could go through. At Angeles Crest Highway they had a gate, but I could get through there."

He enjoyed having the road to himself, Blake said, although he did have to steer clear of a couple of dump trucks.

"I thought it was great, there was no traffic," Blake said. "But I wasn't aware they had this kind of damage here. I wasn't prepared for this."

Individuals who knowingly or unknowingly enter closed portions of Angeles Crest Highway and Angeles National Forest can be fined by the California Highway Patrol or Forest Service law enforcement agents, Chandler said, and are taking a serious safety risk.

"Because it is still a construction zone, it is off limits to the public," Chandler said. "It is just dangerous."

About 20 miles of the 66-mile mountain pass...