Route 39 Work Gets Green Light

The wreckage of man’s more ill-fated incursions into the San Gabriel Mountains lies scattered about the slopes.

The crumbling foundations of long-gone mining cabins, the towering bridge to which no road was ever built. And, way up among the granite crags and bighorn sheep, California 39.

A landslide wiped away the highest part of the road in 1978, cutting off the route that once connected the Pacific Ocean with Angeles Crest Highway. Since then, that last bit of asphalt has sat closed and beaten by falling debris--Caltrans’ lonely white elephant in the pines.

Now, after a push by local legislators, the agency plans to begin work on the highway, opening much of the 6.2-mile gap by 2003 and, if funding permits, allowing through traffic to traverse it as early as 2007.

Flatlanders might once again cruise up from Azusa and hit the slopes in Wrightwood and Kratka Ridge or take a Sunday drive to the west before descending into La Canada Flintridge.

Caltrans officials met last week to discuss details of the final part of the project. The agency plans to release a study within a month.

Concerns include whether transportation funds should go to more important traffic arteries and whether the road will get washed out again, given the tempestuous terrain’s history of devouring pavement.

“What are the chances of this happening again?” said John Lee, project manager for Caltrans. “If we build it for $10 million, well, we lose all that money.”

The first phase, which calls for a new coat of pavement, should cost $2.8 million. The second phase will require re-engineering the part of the road that was swept down the mountain and could cost many times more.

Azusa boosters say it is worth it. They hope the connection to Angeles Crest will draw skiers and hikers to their sagging downtown and help revitalize a city known more for quarries and industry than boutiques and mountain views.

“Being seen as a gateway to the San Gabriel Mountains would make a big psychological difference,” said Azusa City Manager Rick Cole. “The mountains are spectacular assets we have not been capitalizing on.”

As it is, California 39 wends its way out of the city into San Gabriel Canyon, past two major reservoirs and up the north fork of the San Gabriel River. High above Bear Canyon, it hits a locked gate. While the road still draws tens of thousands of day-trippers into the forest, Cole says it is a “22-mile cul-de-sac” with little benefit to the city.

Yet even some proponents of reopening the highway caution that it is not likely to spark a business boom.

Thousands of motorists already cruise up California 39 along Azusa Avenue, but they rarely stop and buy anything. They are headed to “barbecue alley,” as the canyon has been dubbed. Most have little reason to visit Azusa’s dilapidated downtown, which is little more than a couple of gun shops, a few eateries, a lawn mower repair shop, a new Sav-on drugstore and some purple lamp posts.

Tony Maturo, interim director of the Azusa Chamber of Commerce, said reopening California 39 would help the city only if it launches an effort to lure new shops and restaurants.

Other Benefits Seen Beyond Economics

“The city needs to come up with a master plan to bring in businesses related to the forest, like a sporting goods store,” Maturo said.

But others say the benefits of a reopened highway would go beyond economics. The connection to Angeles Crest, or California 2, would open up the vast alpine reaches of the forest to a new set of users, they say.

The closed section of road bends through dry mountain air and dead quiet, save for the breeze rustling the pine trees. Overhead, the sky arcs from the dull urban haze down below to deep cerulean blue. And across the voluminous space of Bear Canyon, California 2 is revealed by the occasional reflection of sunlight on a car windshield.

“Just as you get up to where it’s closed, the air is different. You get a gorgeous view. You can see the entire city,” said Barret Wetherby, president of the San Gabriel Canyon Property Owners Assn. “This would give a lot more people a chance to see the real mountains without having to drive four hours.”

Members of the Sierra Club are mixed on the issue. Some think that repairing the road would open the floodgates, extending the overuse and environmental degradation seen in San Gabriel Canyon into the rest of the forest. Others hope the project would increase environmental awareness by bringing the wonders of nature to more people.

Because those who now use the canyon are mostly Latino, some government critics have speculated that the highway has remained closed as a means of keeping minorities out of the rest of the forest.

“This has basically segregated the Angeles National Forest,” said Dennis Rose, a cabin owner in San Gabriel Canyon and an advocate of reopening the highway. He noted that there are only two campgrounds accessible now from California 39, versus 19 from Angeles Crest.

Rose filed a civil rights complaint against Caltrans and the U.S. Forest Service five years ago. It is still being reviewed by the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service.

Forest Service officials said they support reopening the road if it does not adversely affect the environment. Bighorn sheep cross the roadway in the closed section, “but we don’t know if it’s a major thoroughfare for them,” said forest biologist Bill Brown.

The road has remained closed, officials said, because it traverses precipitous terrain prone to landslides.

“In that closed section, the cliffs are more unstable than on Highway 2,” said Gail Wright, a Forest Service spokeswoman.

Southern Gateway to Vast Recreational Area

The history of California 39 has always been rocky. Inmates from San Quentin and other prisons carved the 6.2-mile stretch from Crystal Lake to Islip Saddle at 6,700 feet, opening traffic to Angeles Crest on Nov. 6, 1961. It was the last bit of the state route, which for most of its lowland path heads north from Huntington Beach as Beach Boulevard.

Press releases from the state Division of Highways at the time trumpeted the achievement: “The completion of Crystal Lake Road as a through route from Azusa to Angeles Crest Highway opens a southern gateway to a vast recreational area of 691,212 acres of Angeles National Forest--a land area equal to a quarter of Los Angeles County.”

But with more than 1,000 feet of talus--loose rock debris--rising straight up alongside the roadbed, it was vulnerable. Officials back then called it one of the most hazardous road-building projects ever undertaken in Southern California.

The road was washed out during the El Nino rains of 1969 and, according to the Forest Service, it did not reopen until 1976. Just two years later, it was locked off for good.

Until recently, prospects of repairing the highway appeared slim. In a 1990 news release, Caltrans called the closed route a “hidden highway” for bighorn sheep and other wildlife. “Because of off-and-on landslides in the area . . . Caltrans has no plans to reopen Route 39 . . . .”

Some continuing maintenance has allowed the road to be used for emergencies. During a fire in 1997, hundreds of cars were evacuated up to Angeles Crest. Hikers and bicyclists also plod up the serpentine path.

The political push to repair and reopen the road, mostly in the interest of Azusa, finally helped change Caltrans’ tune. Former state Sen. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte), former Assemblyman Martin Gallegos (D-Industry) and Rep. David Dreier (R-Covina) wrote to the agency in support of the project. Caltrans applied for funding in 1998.

While many hail the decision, others complain that Caltrans bowed to political pressure.

“My gosh, this is not a wise thing to do with our tax dollars,” said George Duffy, a forest ranger, speaking on his own behalf.

Duffy said the mountains will always win in the end.

“It’s a just a fool’s errand to open that road,” he said.

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Clearing the Way

After a push from legislators, Caltrans is applying for funds to open the last 6.2-mile stretch of California 39, which closed after a landslide in 1978.