SR 39 San Gabriel Canyon Road Closure - January 5, 2016

[andy3175]

Recent rains have closed a portion of SR 39 in Angeles National Forest (San Gabriel Mountains):

http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20160129/highway-39-closure-keeps-visitors-out-of-angeles-national-forests-alpine-region

Caltrans closed the only road leading to Crystal Lake, located about 26 miles north of Azusa. A northerly portion of Highway 39, also known as San Gabriel Canyon Road, was undermined by rivers of mud and debris from a Jan. 5 El Niño storm that rendered the roadway unsafe to drive. ...

Adam Samrah, 58, owner of the cabins and the Crystal Lake Cafe, has been returning deposits to would-be renters from across Southern California who want to stay at his cabins to frolic in a possible record snowfall. One tenant had booked the cabins for a winter wedding. It was postponed, he said.

Every day, he witnesses cars reach the locked gate down the highway and drive away disappointed. It's a far cry from the past four years when Highway 39 was open to the lake, attracting 1,000 or more cars every weekend to his business and the 94-site campground and revamped day-use area.

As stated by President Barack Obama in his declaration for the monument, the land above the foothills should welcome low-income residents and people of color who may not otherwise see snow or a 100-foot-high ponderosa pine. But access to the monument's higher elevations is haphazard.

"The Forest Service is hearing from a lot of interest groups that this is an important issue. It needs to be put to the top of the list,"  said Belinda Faustinos, chairwoman of San Gabriel Mountains Forever, a group that advocated for monument status. ,,,

Caltrans says Highway 39 is a mountain road, subject to slides. "This is nothing new for the forest,"  Chandler said. The agency says the road will be closed "for several weeks,"  but it has offered no timetable and cannot estimate when the closed portion of the state highway will reopen, he said. "We are working as fast as we can. We have our geologists looking at it."

Once a plan is hatched for repairing three damaged areas north of the West Fork near route marker 38 in an area denuded by the Cabin Fire in August, workers can begin rebuilding the slope and fortifying the roadway, he said.

However, starting actual repairs requires additional steps. Caltrans is seeking permits from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Los Angeles Area Regional Water Quality Control Board, the U.S. Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers, he said.

Chandler intimated maneuvering through those bureaucracies "can take some time."  ...

Last time this happened, the road was closed for nine years, between 2002 and 2011, due to damage from a fire and subsequent rainstorms.

[andy3175]

The same article mentioned in the original post also offers information about SR 39, including some noteworthy items:

- Highway 39 runs 27 miles from Azusa to north of the Crystal Lake turnoff.

- A 4.4-mile gap in Highway 39 from Islip Saddle to Wrightwood was created by a road washout in 1978 and has never been repaired. The road no longer connects to Angeles Crest (2) Highway. Caltrans has abandoned the project.

- On Jan. 6, 2016, Caltrans closed the portion of Highway 39 just north of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River area, preventing access to Crystal Lake Recreation Area. An El Niño storm undermined the roadway.

- Crystal Lake is a tiny lake, about 3 acres in size, and its depth varies from 35 feet to 150 feet. It is the only natural lake in the San Gabriel Mountains. The lake is fed by snowmelt and natural streams.

The permanent closure of the 4.4-mile segment of SR 39 is described in greater detail in a 2011 article linked here: http://www.sgvtribune.com/article/ZZ/20111009/NEWS/111008338

Despite earlier promises, Caltrans is abandoning plans to reopen a 4.4-mile section of state Highway 39 in the Angeles National Forest between Crystal Lake and Wrightwood, citing rising costs, engineering challenges and a mandate to protect bighorn sheep offspring. ...

By re-establishing the connection from the San Gabriel Valley to Wrightwood and from La Canada Flintridge down Highway 39 into east Valley foothill communities, it would make Azusa and Glendora "more of a destination" and "would open up a whole different area to shoppers," Castro said.

Caltrans had agreed to repair the long-closed gap in Highway 39 in May 2009. After stakeholders attended several scoping meetings in Azusa, the state agency said it would spend $32 million on new drainage, an 890-foot mechanical wall and a redirected portion of the highway at Snowy Springs, about 23 miles north of Azusa and less than a mile north of Crystal Lake.

The last portion of Highway 39 connecting it to Highway 2 was built in 1957 by order of President Dwight Eisenhower. It washed away in heavy rains in 1978, a result of what some call shoddy engineering. It has never re-opened.

In his letter dated Sept. 26, 2011, Kosinski (from Caltrans) said engineering and environmental mitigations would most likely increase the project's cost, making it no longer feasible. He wrote it was likely to be washed out again, making the repair project "less than a prudent investment."

Kosinski also wrote that the California Department of Fish and Game notified Caltrans of the protected status of the big horn sheep in the area, making the reopening of the road within their habitat "problematic." He cited the recent death of a neonatal bighorn lamb on the closed portion of the highway as evidence that a working road would increase the likelihood of lambs being run over.

To prevent lamb deaths, the road would therefore have to be closed or restricted during the sheep's birthing season from January to June, he wrote. ...

Caltrans had made progress repairing the damaged section, even constructing a paved, one-lane shoulder for fire crews and emergency vehicles to connect to Highway 2, also known as Angeles Crest Highway.

The temporary roadway was used as a northerly escape route for hundreds of canyon visitors who otherwise would have been trapped in the middle of the forest during the devastating Curve Fire in 2002. During the Station Fire of 2009, further west near La Canada Flintridge, the road was used to bring firetrucks and crews up Highway 39 to Highway 2.

Former Caltrans Maintenance Supervisor Bill Larson escorted members of the Azusa Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee along the one-lane shoulder in May 2008. That event, combined with the reopening of Highway 39 up to Crystal Lake in April, gave many hope the road would fully reopen to Wrightwood.

[Quillz]

Too bad CA-39 will never connect to CA-2 again. It has never been open in my lifetime, but had it been, it would have provided a much quicker alternative to reaching Wrightwood and the Mt. High Ski Area, as right now you either have to drive the majority of CA-2 or loop around to I-15/CA-138/CA-2.

[andy3175]

Too bad CA-39 will never connect to CA-2 again. It has never been open in my lifetime, but had it been, it would have provided a much quicker alternative to reaching Wrightwood and the Mt. High Ski Area, as right now you either have to drive the majority of CA-2 or loop around to I-15/CA-138/CA-2.

There's new news on the SR 39 and SR 2 connection. Local officials argued that linking SR 39 back to SR 2 allows for a second route for evacuation in the event of fire, and a loop is created between SR 2 and SR 39 for visitors to the area. Here is a link to the news article: http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20161017/caltrans-considering-a-new-plan-to-reopen-highway-39-all-the-way-to-wrightwood

A 1978 mud-and-rock slide took out a 4.4-mile chunk of the mountain highway about 27 miles north of Azusa, leaving a gap between State Route 39 and its more famous cousin, State Route 2, better known as Angeles Crest Highway.

For decades, civic and business leaders called for repairing the broken portion of the state highway bisecting a majestic set of canyons, peaks and rivers enjoyed by more people than any other national forest. And in 2009 the state had answered in the affirmative. But in 2011, just days before construction was to begin, Caltrans announced it abandoned the fix. Instead, the $32 million set aside for Highway 39 went toward repairing a bridge on Highway 1 in Northern California.

Now, five years after the stinging reversal, the cities of Azusa and Glendora, business groups, a local congresswoman and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments have convinced Caltrans to consider reopening the road to Highway 2, state and local officials reported.

"We are preparing the engineering design and environmental studies in support of this effort,"  said Lauren Wonder, a Caltrans spokeswoman, in an email.

During recent behind-the-scenes meetings initiated by Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte, Caltrans listened to local leaders as to why the highway should once again connect with State Route 2, officials said. ...

One sticking point is the presence of the San Gabriel Mountains bighorn sheep known as Nelson's bighorn sheep, ovis canadensis nelsoni. In 2011, Caltrans said it was unwilling to rebuild the road because motorists may run into or over the state protected species, particularly the lambs.

Steve Castro, chief executive officer of the Azusa Chamber of Commerce, said Caltrans and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife are tussling over the issue. Caltrans would not agree to build the road without another study that shows the sheep's location. Previous studies showed the sheep, which numbered 292 in 2006, were mostly at Cucamonga Peak, Mount Baldy, Iron Mountain and Twin Peaks, far from Islip Saddle/Snow Canyon. ...

The San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, a collaboration of 31 cities, three county supervisors and three water agencies, has written a letter to the U.S. Forest Service, asking to include a completed State Route 39 as part of its management plan for the forest and the 346,177-acre San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The letter, from council Executive Director Philip Hawkey, says the entire route was included in a 1919 state bond measure. The letter states completion of the 4.4-mile damaged portion would provide better access for recreation, fire suppression and search and rescue teams.

[Max Rockatansky]

Cahighwaysguy had something on this as well the other day.  If they ever reopen 39 completely on the Islip Saddle I'll be one of the first to be making the drive. 

[NE2]

http://www.sgvtribune.com/general-news/20161017/caltrans-considering-a-new-plan-to-reopen-highway-39-all-the-way-to-wrightwood

The letter, from council Executive Director Philip Hawkey, says the entire route was included in a 1919 state bond measure.

Only from Azusa to Pine Flats (the current end); north of Pine Flats wasn't added until 1931.

[pderocco]

I'd like to see it extended past route 2, down into Valyermo. It would only be about five miles worth of completely new road.

But the environmentalists won't let them do any of this. Because bighorn sheep.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'd like to see it extended past route 2, down into Valyermo. It would only be about five miles worth of completely new road.

But the environmentalists won't let them do any of this. Because bighorn sheep.

Might five miles in a straight line but it's going to require a lot more road than that.  The Islip Saddle is 6,680 feet and while I don't know the exact elevation of Valyermo, I know there are Joshua Trees all over Valyermo Road which probably has it between 3,000-4,000 feet?  You'd need a lot of hairpins for the first couple miles to soften that grade if you wanted a 6-8% decline.  Now if you're cool with anything 15% or higher you'd be in good shape probably just doing a direct shoot down South Fork Big Rock Creek. 

In regards to environmentalism....yeah it's worse than you think since all that land is not only part of Angeles National Forest but San Gabriel Mountains National Monument as well: