It has been 46 years since a landslide damaged a 4.4-mile chunk of State Highway 39, a highway ordered built by President Eisenhower in 1957. But the landslide severed the mountain road’s junction with State Highway 2 and turned Highway 39 into a dead end.
After several starts and stops, Caltrans in 2022 announced it was once again considering reopening the two-lane highway that runs from the San Gabriel Valley floor through the Angeles National Forest to its closure about 27 miles north of Azusa and northwest of Crystal Lake. Caltrans held scoping meetings, listened to comments, studied the environmental effects, and on Tuesday, it will conduct its first in-person public meeting on the project.
The brown, checkered squiggly line is the closed portion or “gap” in Highway 39 that has been closed for 46 years. Caltrans is considering repairing the road and reopening it to once again connect with State Route 2 – Angeles Crest Highway. A public hearing on the matter is set for Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 6 p.m. at Azusa Auditorium in Azusa. (map courtesy of Caltrans)
Reopening proponents
Even if the state transportation agency decides to reopen the road to traffic for the first time since 1978, many who have a stake in experiencing a fully circulating Highway 39, with connections to ski areas and access to the quaint town of Wrightwood, are approaching this meeting with a skeptical bent.
“I am more optimistic but with a wait-and-see in the back of my mind. It has been promised before,” said Steve Castro, chief executive officer of the Azusa Chamber of Commerce. Castro has been lobbying for repairing the 4.4-mile section of Highway 39 at Islip Saddle for more than 15 years, since he stood in front of local grocery stores with petitions.
In 2009, Caltrans announced it had $32 million to fix and reopen the mountain road to traffic. But at the last minute, the project was scuttled and the money was used to rebuild a bridge on Highway 1 in Northern California. In 2011, the agency said the project could not withstand future rock slides, would cost a ton more money, and may endanger the iconic Nelson’s bighorn sheep — so it killed the project.
Azusa Mayor Robert Gonzales, who has been pushing Caltrans — and any legislator who would listen — for 17 years to get the road fixed, is measuring his words regarding the public hearing, the state reasons for the project, and the draft EIR document.
“We have been on this road before — no pun intended,” began Gonzales on Wednesday, April 10. “I hope Caltrans is legitimately looking to do something.”
What can be said for sure is that Caltrans is holding a public hearing in which state transportation officials will take oral and written testimony. The in-person meeting, called “Caltrans SR-39 (San Gabriel Canyon Road) Reopening,” takes place on Tuesday, April 16, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Azusa Auditorium, 213 E. Foothill Blvd., Azusa.
Caltrans is also holding a virtual public hearing via Zoom on Saturday, April 20, at 10:00 a.m. To register, visit: https://bit.ly/SR-39DEDPublicHearing.
Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte, has been advocating for a fully circulating state highway for 20 years. She has a simple message for Caltrans: “It is a highway. It is supposed to be open,” she said on Thursday, April 11.
Aerial view of the gate closing off Highway 39 in the Angeles National Forest. The 4.4-mile gap has been closed since 1978.
Azusa foresees an economic benefit. With the highway repaired, one could drive from La Canada Flintridge east on Highway 2, then go south on Highway 39 and end up in Azusa. The views on Highway 39, sometimes called The Forgotten Highway, are spectacular and the city hopes first-timers would take a drive on the scenic highway, then check in at a restaurant or shop at its Target store.
Reaching the Mountain High ski resorts via Azusa could add economic opportunity in the town, Castro said. San Gabriel Valley dwellers wouldn’t face a two-hour drive via the 210, 15 and 138 freeways. Instead, they would take Highway 39, then travel east on Highway 2, for a trip of about 40 minutes.
“Once word gets out it is open to Highway 2, they’ll say: ‘What is up there? Let’s check it out,’” Castro said. “And folks would absolutely come to Azusa and stop in our stores and restaurants,” he said. With several new housing projects, Castro thinks it could bring new homeowners into the city.
Napolitano also said the reopening of the highway would provide better access for winter and summer play. “A lot of folks would like to see it open for recreational purposes,” she said. “You know, to go skiing in the winter and in the summer, hikers and bicyclists would like it open.”
Safety first
One of the main benefits of the reopening cited by Caltrans is safety. Although a tight shoulder was carved out in 2003 for emergency vehicles, rock slides have blocked access and are damaging the shoulder.
Caltrans reports that a fully restored highway would “provide enhanced access for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and other emergency personnel during search and rescue activities.” The EIR also states that a restored roadway and connection to Highway 2 would reduce response times.
“My concern is safety during wildfires,” Gonzales said. “Someone could be up there recreating and not be able to get out. If (the road) went all the way through (to Highway 2), you could have another (exit) option.”
The closed section continues to suffer rock slides and degradation, Caltrans reported. A repair project would include installing hillside netting to capture falling rocks as well as roadway retaining walls. New culverts would drain stormwater. The road has received new guardrails but infrastructure would need to be maintained.
“The current conditions continue to degrade and may pose a safety hazard to maintenance crews and other users of the facility,” the EIR stated.
Finally, the state is in violation of its own rules, namely the California Streets and Highway Code, Section 91 and 100, which mandates the state maintain its state highways, and if gaps occur the impacts must be studied and repairs considered, the EIR stated.
By restoring the roadway, the state would be in compliance with its own streets and highways laws, the EIR stated, citing another reason for completing the project.
Wildlife impacts
Aside from rock slides, snow, and costs ranging upward of $57 million, a skittish hoofed mammal lives in the Angeles National Forest in small numbers and under state protected status, including in the Islip Saddle region where the road has been closed to vehicles for nearly five decades.
A bighorn sheep atop a mountain cliff in the Angeles National Forest near the “Bridge To Nowhere” near the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. This is near the Bighorn Sheep Mountain Wilderness area, on the opposite side of the forest from Islip Saddle and the Highway 39 gap. (photo by Steve Scauzillo/SCNG)
The Nelson’s Bighorn Sheep, Ovis canadensis nelsoni, the rarest hoofed mammals on the continent, are known for their curled horns and elusive behavior. They live in select forest regions: Iron Mountain area, near the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, in and around Middle Fork and South Fork of Lytle Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest, and near Mt. San Antonio (Mt. Baldy). But the sub-group closest to the project come from the Twin Peaks area, five miles west of Highway 39, researchers say.
Although the gates keep cars out, the sheep like the closed-off area very much, especially the ewes who have been spotted there with their baby lambs on the closed road section, said Dustin Pearce, environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“This area is used as lambing habitat by bighorn sheep and brings with it certain precautions for the public since this is a vital habitat zone for bighorn sheep reproduction and lamb survival,” Pearce wrote in an emailed response.
Vehicle traffic could spook the female bighorns, causing them to leave these safer places and be subject to predation by coyotes and mountain lions, Pearce explained.
The last few official bighorn sheep counts in the Angeles National Forest were stymied by inclement weather. The most recent count of 417 sheep dates back to between 2011-2014, said Jeff Villipique, supervising biologist with CDFW.
He believes the count today remains around 400, since there’s no evidence of a die off. “Four hundred-plus animals is a pretty robust population,” Villipique said.
Bighorn sheep also live in the Mojave Desert and in the White Mountains, east of Bishop. The EIR says all measures will be taken to avoid impacts to the bighorn sheep. In 2022, Caltrans mentioned building the road as a raised viaduct so the wildlife could go underneath.
Undoubtedly, the issues of the sheep, traffic, cost and viability will be raised at the public hearing.
“It is always important to hear all sides,” said Gonzales. “While I’m glad they are holding this, I’m taking a realistic approach. Hopefully, it will have some legs.”
Send comments by May 11 to: SR-39DEDComments@dot.ca.gov.
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