Closed -- but for how long?

Repairs have closed a key road hikers and mountain bikers use to reach trails in the Chantry Flat area above Sierra Madre.

Officials say the closure will last until June 18, but the various agencies involved in the work are sending mixed signals.

Meanwhile, recreational users are getting anxious as summer season arrives.

Kim Clymer-Kelley, owner of the concession at Chantry Flat in the Angeles National Forest, said users are staying away because of the confusion.

One sign has been posted since April, another sign says the road will be closed through July 9.

“I had my slowest Memorial Day weekend crowd in years,” she said. “I’m not Wal-Mart or anything but I have rights as a citizen not to have this done to me.”

Big Santa Anita Canyon Road is closed for repairs caused by fires and flooding.

Bruce Inman, director of the Sierra Madre public works department, said the projects would last until September, though the road won’t be closed that entire time.

“The dates have changed so many times and there are so many agencies involved that we just left ... up” the signs, he said.

Some signs might be changed, he said, to reduce confusion.

The twisting mountain road accesses hiking trails to Sturtevant Falls and Mt. Wilson.

-- Pete Thomas