Author: Michael Ballard

March 2021 Newsletter

Lost section of roadway near the south end. All of the visible roadway from the middle car and below was destroyed in the early 2000’s.

THE 17 MILE DRIVE

Not the famous 17 Mile Drive in Monterey California, I’m referring to the historic 17.6 miles of the original 1915 Ridge Route that provided a direct north/south route over the barrier of the San Gabriel and Techachapi mountains.  This route provided a commercial conduit to connect northern and southern California.  Seventeen point six miles of the original highway lie entirely within the Angeles National Forest and are recorded on the National Register.

The sad thing is it is currently closed to any motorized vehicle. The only legal permitted entry currently is to hike, bicycle or horseback in, but I can assure you the adventure is worth it.   The focus of the Ridge Route Preservation Organization is to preserve this historical landmark and work with Angles National Forest to explore avenues to possibly acquire at least limited vehicle access for public enjoyment, especially for the disabled that depend on others to provide transportation.  For those worthy of the task, take ample water and a cell phone.  Cell service is spotty.  Be watchful of snakes during summer months.  Your reward will be spectacular views and how turn-of-the-century highways were built.

– Harrison Scott

Road Updates

Nothing much to report this month on the roadway. Things have quieted down a bit since the issues in January. We are still following up with CHP to find out what happened up there with the vehicles. It also seems the utility companies are the main culprits for the gates being open. Keep in mind, we are working toward having the gates open much more frequently, but only after we get a better handle on maintenance of the roadway. At present, the roadway is still considered closed and, should you pass the gates, you may well find yourself locked in. The plan we are working on with the USFS will likely be a winter closure of the roadway to reduce the possibility of damage to the paving by cars during storms.

Membership

We recently made some changes to our website to allow online membership applications. If you were a member in the past and would like to renew, or you’d like to become a new member, it is a whole lot quicker and easier now. If you’d like to join or renew, please use our online membership form. We still have our mail-in method as well. Keep in mind your donation may be tax-deductible as we are a 501(c)3 organization.

Events

In-person events, such as a CUTRR or tours, are still on hold due to the pandemic. As things are improving, albeit slowly, we anticipate being able to hold some sort of event much later this year. An exact time is still uncertain. It doesn’t mean we can’t hold other events, such as online meetings. Our first online meeting, using Zoom, will be held on Wednesday, March 3 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. This meeting is open to the public and registration is required. We plan to hold more meetings like this in the future to help inform the public about what is going on with the roadway and the RRPO. Come join us! Use the link below to register.

http://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqcuitqT8pHNP2d5qYGw3OmKdFfxy6h5p3

Fundraising

Our online fundraising has been going rather well. We recently changed our PayPal account and validated our non-profit status with them. As a result, they have reduced the fees they charge us and have an option to cover those fees during a donation. While it is a small change, every bit helps. We do wish to thank all those that have donated. We will need those funds in the near future for a few possible projects on the roadway, such as pothole repair and modifying the gate at the Tumble Inn (Fisher Springs gate). Your donations help ensure the roadway will continue on into the future.

RRPO Open Meeting 3/3/2021

We are trying something new and will be holding an open meeting on Zoom for the RRPO. The intent of this meeting is to help inform the public about what is going on with the roadway, its current status, our plans for the road, and what you can do to help or get involved. It will not be a formal board meeting but this is a good chance to meet the RRPO. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:30 pm. Registration is required for the meeting. Use the link below to register. We look forward to seeing you there!

http://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqcuitqT8pHNP2d5qYGw3OmKdFfxy6h5p3

February 2021 Update

On Saturday, February 6, We had the opportunity to travel over the Ridge Route and survey the roadway for damage from the storms, trucks, and car chase that have happened all since January 21. The storms that hit were pretty strong, closing I-5 multiple times for extended periods. As the Ridge Route itself is higher in elevation, it looks like a lot of the precipitation that hit the area fell as snow instead of rain. This may well have saved the road this time but future storms may no be so “kind”. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but at least now we have a better idea of what to focus on for now. If you’d like to help us with these tasks, join us, donate, or both. Your donation may be tax-deductible and you’ll help save this historic roadway.

As an aside, our next update may be in a different format as we are planning to move to a newsletter style soon.

Gates

Southern gate
Northern (Fisher Springs or Tumble Inn) gate

Both gates were open when we went up there. We closed them behind us each time and locked them. While we want the roadway open, the current USFS position is for the roadway to be closed and the events of January 26 definitely show why. This time, the gates were left open by contractors working on the SCE power lines a few miles north of the National Forest Inn site. We will be speaking again with the USFS to see what can be done about this problem.

Rockslides

Rockslide partially blocking the roadway below Swede’s Cut
Large boulder and additional material ready to fall

Our biggest concern following the storms was rockslides or worse, landslides. Thankfully, the roadway seemed to hold up well. Only one major rockslide was found, which was located on Serpentine Drive just north of the gas pipeline bridge. One of the rocks that fell was the rather large, close to the size of a refrigerator and probably as heavy. We saw that more rocks will fall at this location in the near future. Other problematic locations, such as Swede’s Cut and the northern end of the roadway, seemed to have minimal problems.

Truck Damage

Tire marks and trampled shoulder
First big sign of skid marks and scrapes
Looking southerly toward the sunken area where they got stuck
Closeup of the broken pavement and tire debris area
Large pile of melted tire debris and oil on the roadway

Three big rigs traversed the roadway on January 26, as we have noted in earlier reports. We found the location they became stuck, which was about 0.3 miles north of Kelly’s Halfway Inn. We noted multiple locations where they lost traction and spun their tires, leaving large amount of melted tire debris. They got stuck at a large sunken area, creating a large amount of scrapes and pavement damage. They also drove over the edges of the roadway in numerous places, possibly compromising the pavement and culverts in those areas. We are currently working with CHP to obtain information regarding those vehicles.

Signage

County signage at State 138

Following the January 26th incident, we contacted the County of Los Angeles to help with dissuading people from going over the roadway during the storms. We suggested adding additional signage at both ends of the roadway if possible. They complied and said they’d put up the signs that day. On Saturday, we saw those signs still in place at Templin Highway, Pine Canyon Road, and State 138. We want to thank the County of Los Angeles for their efforts and will be working on getting better, more permanent signage in place in the near future.

Car Chase

Tracks from where the car left the roadway
Trail where the car crashed off the road

I did mention a car chase involving the Ridge Route. On January 21, a high speed chase ended rather abruptly at the northern end of the Ridge Route, about 1.3 miles south of State 138, well north of Pine Canyon Road. The chase didn’t involve the rest of the roadway, thankfully. The car involved drove off the Ridge Route and the suspects were apprehended shortly after. It doesn’t look like the roadway was damaged but the marks are still there in the dirt.

Snow Storm Update 1/27/2021

It has been a long day but we have at least some news to report. The gates on the Ridge Route are now closed and locked per the USFS. The County of Los Angeles will be placing “Road Closed Ahead” signs today at Templin Highway and Pine Canyon Road. We will be surveying the damage caused by the trucks next month when weather permits, possibly with the USFS as well. We will be contacting CHP to find out if they have any information about the truckers involved so we can begin that process.

Google Maps and Waze are also being updated. Google Maps was updated this morning. Both closures on those sites will require updates, as getting them to mark it as “permanent” or at least “long-term” seems to be a problem. Regardless of what a GPS showed or what conditions may have been, it is still unbelievable that anyone driving a truck as large as that would have even considered going on such a roadway. It doesn’t have a centerline stripe from Templin Highway to State 138, which is a clue the roadway is not a major one. It also goes much higher in elevation than I-5, which again, is a clue it would be worse to travel. That elevation difference is one of the reasons it was bypassed rather than upgraded in 1933. Liebre Summit is higher than Tejon Pass by 110 feet and a lot more treacherous.

We all want to be able to enjoy the scenery along the roadway. Don’t destroy it for the future because you want to bypass a freeway closure or go play in the snow. There are plenty of alternatives that aren’t historic highways to do these things on.

We do need your support to keep things like this from happening again. Part of that support is to let us know if you see or hear anything regarding the roadway, such as trucks being stuck on it during a snowstorm. We don’t always get the information we need and happening upon it, such as we did this time, wasn’t pleasant. If you want to help in other ways, why not become a member, make a donation, or both. Your donation and membership is tax-deductible as we are a 501(c)3 organization.