Caltrans asks the public: Should it reopen a segment of a highway in the Angeles National Forest closed for 46 years?
Karl Price, senior environmental scientist at Caltrans, listens to an audience member voice their opinion during a public hearing to discuss whether or not to reopen a portion of Highway 39 that’s been closed for 46 years, at Azusa City Hall on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The closed section, which was shut down after a rockslide in 1978, is located north of Crystal Lake and would reconnect Highway 39 to State Highway 2.
In the first in-person public hearing on the topic in modern memory, about 50 people came to the Azusa Auditorium and listened, while some shared their thoughts. From hikers to naturalists to residents, most wanted a reconnected Highway 39, but some said that reopening the highway would bring too much traffic into the forest and hurt local wildlife.
Others who testified in support of Alternative 4 agreed, saying it would be a benefit to rebuild the connection to forest sites and High Desert sites 27 miles north of the forest entrance in Azusa. Fully reopening Highway 39 would not only let public vehicles circulate, but also Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies, search and rescue teams, paramedics and firefighting trucks would have quicker access. “Alternative 4 would improve access for everybody and would provide unrestricted access to emergency personnel,” Price said.
Some questioned whether Caltrans can afford Alternative 4, which the EIR says has a total projected cost of $335 million. “I am wondering: Can you assure us funding will be there?” asked Jose Henriquez of Montebello. About 417 bighorns are estimated to be living in the highest slopes of these rugged mountains within the Angeles and San Bernardino national forests, said Jeff Villepique, supervising biologist with CDFW. There are only about 5,000 bighorn sheep in all of California, he said. The bighorn population closest to the San Gabriel Mountain group lives in the Mojave Desert.While the sheep are not classified as endangered or threatened, they were listed as protected by CDFW.
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