AARoads Forum

Regional Boards => Pacific Southwest => Topic started by: Quillz on December 11, 2015, 12:55:11 PM

Title: San Gabriel Mountains National Monument + CA-2 and CA-39
Post by: Quillz on December 11, 2015, 12:55:11 PM
Since 2014, a large portion of the San Gabriel Mountains are now part of a national monument. Don't have a map handy, but it includes most of the major peaks, and I think both portions of CA-2 and CA-39 are within. The former is presently closed from roughly La Canada to the Big Pines Highway due to a rock slide, and the latter has been closed from the CA-2 junction down to Crystal Lake since 1978.

My question is, now that the mountains are a national monument, how does that affect Caltrans' ability, if at all, to maintain these two highways? Does maintenance switch to the National Park Service? If so, any likelihood that CA-39 will ever finally be reopened and connect to CA-2? I've read that Caltrans has tried to relinquish the entirety of CA-39 since 2012 but old laws have largely prevente them from doing so (i.e. they'd have to literally deconstruct the entire roadbed).
Title: Re: San Gabriel Mountains National Monument + CA-2 and CA-39
Post by: oscar on December 11, 2015, 03:46:56 PM
CA 190 and CA 178 still exist (both legislatively and in Caltrans' logs) within Death Valley Nat'l Park. The highways were there first, before the park was created. I would think the same would happen for a newly-created national monument, which is a lesser breed of Federal preserve.

Environmental laws' protection of parks of whatever kind would almost certainly block the re-completion of CA 39 through the mountains if there wasn't already a closed road there. Reopening a closed state highway would be different, though I don't know how much different.

Title: Re: San Gabriel Mountains National Monument + CA-2 and CA-39
Post by: Rothman on December 15, 2015, 11:49:06 AM
Also keep in mind the National Monument is a USFS-managed site and not NPS or BLM.
Title: Re: San Gabriel Mountains National Monument + CA-2 and CA-39
Post by: bing101 on June 11, 2023, 11:07:30 AM
Here is a tour of the abandoned part of CA-39 by Sidetrack Adventures.