Caltrans wants to abandon cliff-hanging Highway 39

[cpzilliacus]

From the L.A. Times:

Caltrans wants to abandon cliff-hanging Highway 39

To avoid closure of the popular San Gabriel Mountains route, Caltrans has asked the U.S. Forest Service or L.A. County to take it over, but neither wants it.

[NE2]

"Caltrans could not immediately cite another instance in which it walked away from a state route."

Who the hell was answering questions that day? Pretty much any surface alignment that parallels a new freeway has been turned over to local maintenance.

[Alps]

"Caltrans could not immediately cite another instance in which it walked away from a state route."

Who the hell was answering questions that day? Pretty much any surface alignment that parallels a new freeway has been turned over to local maintenance.

I think they're referring to abandoning it without having a transfer arrangement.

[Henry]

Here's an idea: Convert it into a hiking trail! I've seen many older road alignments being redone this way; then the number can be reused for a potential replacement corridor.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Here's an idea: Convert it into a hiking trail! I've seen many older road alignments being redone this way; then the number can be reused for a potential replacement corridor.

This is an example where there is no replacement corridor available - it's a road into the mountains, serving a reservoir and some residences and businesses. But, CalTrans says the road is not maintainable within their budget. CalTrans has already essentially abandoned the segment from Crystal Lake Reservoir to the Angeles Crest Highway, since they've been unable to keep that part of the route open..

[Quillz]

CA-39 is already a weird route to begin with, having two non-connected segments. May as well just have the northern segment end at I-210.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Does anybody have any photos or more information about the slide that did the central segment in?  It must have been pretty major for the road to have been closed for as long as it has been, and for CalTrans to be considering permanent abandonment.

[Quillz]

Does anybody have any photos or more information about the slide that did the central segment in?  It must have been pretty major for the road to have been closed for as long as it has been, and for CalTrans to be considering permanent abandonment.

I don't know if it was major as it was priorities. It was first damaged in 1978, briefly opened to emergency crews in 2003 and then damaged again in 2005. I think the main issue is that unlike some other mountain crossings, CA-39 is a convenient shortcut to CA-2, but not necessarily a critically vital one.

I always figured that if Caltrans was to ever take over alignments that were planned to become routes like CA-249, it might have been worth re-opening. But it doesn't seem that will be the case, and if Caltrans hasn't been able to get CA-39 reopened to general traffic in the past three decades, it seems unlikely now it will ever occur.

[texaskdog]

Any good photos of this route? sounds interesting

[Quillz]

Any good photos of this route? sounds interesting

There is an implied connection between the northern and southern segments, but it's not actually part of the route. Likewise, despite what this map shows, CA-39 has not officially terminated at CA-2 since 1978, instead ending a couple miles south of it. That connection is what Caltrans has been trying to reopen for decades but hasn't, and it sounds like at this point, it's never going to happen.

[NE2]

http://www.scvresources.com/highways/sr_39.htm

[xonhulu]

That was good stuff, NE2. Thanks for the link.

I was checking out the CalTrans photolog site last night, and it shows what the open section looks like:

http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/

[Quillz]

One of the main arguments for reopening the CA-2/CA-39 junction is that it cuts the amount of time it takes to travel from, say, Asuza to Mt. High in half. With the connection closed now, someone wanting to go north would have to go all the way west to the Angeles Crest Highway. It would save a lot of time just being able to continue north on CA-39.

[AsphaltPlanet]

One of the things that I don't want to be lost in this discussion is just how beautiful California 39 is.  I drove Hwy 39 when I was in California a few years ago, and was awestruck with how nice the scenary was.  The highway follows the narrow San Gabriel River Valley, passing several hydro electric dams en route towards (though obviously falling short of) California Hwy 2.

This is the highway with the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains in the background:


This is the first hydro electric dam that controls the flow of the San Gabriel River:


These were shot from the section of Hwy 39 that is open.  Beautiful, beautiful scenery.

[andy3175]

We have a California State Route 39 page that was just updated recently that shows some of these areas .... https://www.aaroads.com/california/ca-039.html ... I need to locate some pictures I took of the section just north of Azusa to add to that page.

Regards,
Andy