Angeles Crest Highway closed indefinitely because of fire

More than 40 miles of the Angeles Crest Highway from La Canada Flintridge to Islip Saddle have been closed indefinitely because of the Station Fire, which has burned off road stripping and destroyed guard rails and signage along the scenic route, Caltrans officials said.

Judy Gish, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said the highway’s pavement remains largely intact, though further damage to the 66-mile road is possible as the fire continues. She said it was too soon to estimate the cost to repair the highway or when it could be reopened.

The Angeles Crest Highway, one of the main routes through the San Gabriel Mountains, runs from Foothill Boulevard to State Route 138 northeast of Wrightwood.

The two-lane road handles as many as 11,300 trips by motorists a day, depending on the section of the highway, according to Caltrans.

--Dan Weikel

Comments

[Ken]

Any chance the Times' graphic arts dept could add a linkable 3D Google Earth KML file (as well) with all the same placemarkers, boundries, etc, they're using presently with the online Google Maps updates here on the Times' site? If you instruct users to check the very bottom "Terrain" box in the Layers sidebar, users can get a much better look and feel for the area being destroyed. By users depressing the center scroll button on their mouse and dragging slightly, it changes the 3D angle of perspective, giving a much different picture than 2D maps. Also very easy to zoom in and out. Food for thought. Great coverage of a tragic event.

[PrissyPoo]

Aww, what a shame. Won't be able to enjoy snow come wintertime. Love going on drives up there throughout the year.

I live in La Crescenta and going up Angeles Crest Hwy so close to there was a nice little getaway just 20 minutes up the mountain. This news is breaks my heart.

[Frank reid]

Knowing our state and federal governments, they'll milk the fire closure for all it's worth and keep the Highway closed for months--I wouldn't expect any alacrity in their undertaking even the simplest of repairs.

[Colleen Quinn]

Where will all of us roadies (aka road cyclists) go? This is saddening.

[Buddy]

One ironic element of the tragedy, of course, is that CalTrans just spent millions of dollars and several years rebuilding burnt sections of the Angeles Crest Highway in the wake of ongoing landslide damage.

[Steven]

Damn... Highway 2 had just recently been re-opened again this year too. That is a damn shame.

[Scott]

It's spelled striping genius. Don't have spellcheck?

[pets of Marc Twane from Silverlake]

From Key:

"Great coverage of a tragic event."

The true tragedy of this event is the impact on nature and the wildlife caused by the typical hubris and stupidity of humans. (In the long run, humans will be as successful in controlling wildfires as they are in controlling earthquakes...)

[pets of Marc Twane from Silverlake]

Previous comment should have started "From Ken:"

[rebecca]

Close the entire highway - indefinitely? Isn't that just the government restricting our rights once again in the guise of safety? Fix the road and let the tax paying citizens enjoy OUR forest.

[Frank R]

Dear Moderator:

There has been a 24 hour delay for you to respond to my comment.

[Tim Hunold]

Didn't they just re-open the section above Newcomb's recently too? I wonder how much damage this has done to the wonderful streams and waterfalls in the hills, sort of a best kept secret in LA. Fish camp, bridge to nowhere, gonna miss these places if I can't hike to them :(

http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/hikes.html
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/waterfalls.html

[Lancaster Commuter]

Ouch. Driving home on the crest was a welcome and quite beautiful relief to the commute on the 14 fwy.

[RC]

Trust me on this one- the road will be closed for a long long time. Remember when they closed the Northern section to Wrightwood, due to a washout? What was that, 7 years ago? Maybe more? Still isn't open is it? Nope!

Good 'ol CA......highest taxes in the US...yet nothing works. Top Notch!

[Lisa]

This is the main route for most of us commuters between the Antelope Valley and the San Gabriel Valley. This is a nightmare. The 14 freeway is congested far more than normal near the 5 interchange and the 210. I love the drive up over the Crest. It is peaceful and relaxing and takes about 1 1/2 to get to work vs. stop and go traffic that adds an addition 30 or 40 minutes to the average commute. I hope the reopen it soon, but not just for the traffic issues. It's a beautiful place to be and what happened to it is devastating.

[Van Aggson]

Some whacko arsonist just ruined it again. The Angeles Crect Highway was finally open for its full lenghth for a while, and unfotunately I did not get to ride it yet before it got closed again. Motorcyclist all over southern California are saddened by the closure

[josh giese]

There is some consensus among citizens that the Angeles Crest Highway should be opened for cyclists. It is the best cycling area in southern california and a huge deprivation to the people, and certainly authoritarian of the local government, to close it entirely with an arbitrarily indiscriminate decision by one man. One appointed government official or perhaps some elite, mandarin committee with an agenda.
There should be options and workarounds for how the people can use the road as it is being repaired. It belongs to the people, it is public land. Both the fire and now the unconditional closure is a terrible loss and privation for the people in general.
Let the people decide how the road is to be reopened and policies pertaining to it's use. Let us not allow the government to usurp authority beyond it's legitimate scope and set rules and policies in isolation and without consultation of the people.
The loss of wilderness, and now the loss of access to it, are profoundly troubling. Let us hope and expect the government to show a measure of competence and sensitivity to it's purpose and relation to the people, competence that perhaps it failed to show before these dire events.
Josh Giese

[fp]

so , when does the LAFD think that the fire will be under control and hwy 2 will be open ?

[Tristan]

When the Crest opens again all you slow drivers better use the turnouts to allow faster people to pass.

[armen kezenchyan]

i love angels crest ,wow ,this egoist arsonist had to blow it for all of us i hope they reopen the highway soon i love using this route all year long especially when it snow .... damn i just bought a 4x4 i wanted to try it out this up coming winter ... go damn arsonist i hope they catch him and throw him in for life

[Terri]

It would not surprise me that some whacko, who didn't want this road to open, torched it to close it again.. I hope they cut his hands off when they catch him.

[Dustin Waters]

when will angels crest highway opining again?

[Steve]

Please re-open this road! It's perfectly fine. The road works.

Also, let’s make this road safer by declaring it a safe zone. Don't write people tickets for speeding; Just restrict them from using it again. I am a motorcyclist and believe it's too crazy up there. We all need to slow down. Have a designated team that patrol it regularly, and issue restrictions for use, not money stealing citations. I witnessed a motorcyclist who was speeding and went wide on a curve and killed an innocent biker minding his own business. The speeding biker just hurt his leg a little.

If your caught speeding up there, you cannot use the road for 3 months after your first warning. Electronic signs and cameras should be installed in places that are not obtrusive. You should not get a ticket from a camera trap, only a warning. After a few warnings you are restricted. If your caught speeding up there after that, the fine is steep. This is a perfect test road to refine a fair introduction of methods to keep folks from speeding, particularly motorcyclists like myself. I'm a cruiser, not a racer and want a safe road for all.

[Dave]

I’m a long time hiker, backpacker and camper of mainly the Chilao to Islip Saddle area. My view on the subject is as follows. The crotch rockets should not be street legal. They belong on a raceway not on a street with pedestrians and normal driving bikes and cars. What kind of idiots let this happen? The problem is that government will not make these bikes illegal because they can’t win against big business rights. It’s the same principle as child sex offenders. They have a place. That place is in prison. You do not have the right to endanger other people and that is what motorcycles designed for speed do. Hey you want to drive without a helmet you are only hurting your self. But to endanger others is not OK. Our government is backasswards. Crotch rockets belong on the raceway. Get it? Sometimes it’s dangerous driving on the Crest. You have to really watch out for the few idiots.

I’m sure the Crest needed to be closed. The road was not safe due to the fire. And I’m sure they are working on it. People need to commute over it. If it rains good this winter it may be closed to remove the sediment that will cover portions of it due to runoff. If it rains I wouldn’t go any where near there.

[Cyclist]

As of April 2011 the the road is in excellent condition and is very good to cycle. Though closed, cyclists can sneak past the closure and enjoy a rare period of access to the road without having to worry about cars, trucks and motorbikes. I rode it on a Sunday and there were no road workers, however during the week you may be hassled.