Scenic stretch of Angeles Crest Freeway reopens following lengthy closure

Simply in time for Labor Day weekend, a 10-mile stretch of scenic Angeles Crest Freeway is reopening to the general public after being closed for years resulting from storm injury.

Heavy rains through the back-to-back stormy winters of 2022 and 2023 triggered slope failures and rock slides, and collapsed pavement alongside the highway — often known as Freeway 2, which runs alongside Angeles Nationwide Forest.

Additional injury adopted in September 2024, when the Bridge hearth burned sections of Angeles Nationwide Forest and raged throughout the freeway.

New guardrails, retaining partitions, erosion management and drainage techniques had been put in place to deal with the destruction. Nonetheless, the stretch of freeway between Islip Saddle and Vincent Gulch continued to be closed till Friday.

The full price of repairs was roughly $7.9 million, officers mentioned.

In a Q&A on its web site, the California Division of Transportation mentioned the closure “took so lengthy” resulting from inspectors having to guage the realm in particular person, and that situations had been continually altering with the climate.

Angeles Crest Freeway connects to many standard mountain climbing trails, together with Vincent Gulch and Mt. Baden-Powell.

“For some, taking the great distance round might haven’t been an possibility for them. It might be too lengthy to stroll, too time-consuming or too costly for the gasoline,” mentioned Jeff Hester, a hiker and creator of the SoCal Six-Pack of Peaks mountain climbing problem. “Lots of people actually loved that drive and having the ability to discover locations that they won’t have seen in any other case. Having that reopened offers them entry to that once more.”

In addition to elevated entry, some predict that the reopening will assist cut back littering and overcrowding.

“The reopening of those trails are big for the mountain climbing neighborhood when it comes to entry,” mentioned Justin Rimon, founding father of the L.A.-based outside group Simply Trek. “Additionally, this stretch of the Angeles Crest Freeway that’s open, it not solely opens extra trails, however I feel it’ll assist cut back congestion at among the hottest trailheads. As a result of for a very long time, folks had been going to the identical trailheads due to this closure and it was getting actually overcrowded.”

Members of the native mountain climbing neighborhood mentioned they had been relieved to see this stretch of the freeway, although there have been some issues across the timing.

As Labor Day weekend is anticipated to carry extra guests to the Angeles Nationwide Forest, the U.S. Forest Service introduced heightened hearth hazard warnings for the realm.

On Thursday, the company mentioned that the Angeles Nationwide Forest is now on the excessive hearth hazard stage, that means campfires, stoves, barbecues or open flames are prohibited.

“Because it’s additionally Labor Day weekend, I’m nervous persons are not going to hearken to the warnings, or they’re not going to know that it’s an excessive hearth stage within the Angeles Forest, they usually’re going to be cooking and grilling and celebrating,” Rimon mentioned. “I ponder if the timing was proper.”