09 April 2014

On the Skids in Carbon Canyon #15679?

Not sure whether this was a recent accident damaging both ends of a guardrail on the north side of Carbon Canyon Road between Canyon Hills Road and Canon Lane on the Chino Hills portion of the canyon or if it was damage done in the wreck that took place a month or so ago.


In any case, it is another example of activity that has taken place on the state highway within the last few months.


Notably, the Champion, in its latest edition, carried an article about the use of Carbon Canyon Road by large trucks and the concern that these larger vehicles poses risks on the two-lane roadway, particularly at the S-curve near Carriage Hills. 

A resident of that subdivision snapped a photo and expressed alarm about the increased use of the highway by trucks, while a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Department station in Chino Hills remarked that there haven't been problems from its point of view (though that view is not supported by regular appearances in the canyon.)

This question came to a head within the last several weeks when a big rig literally got stuck along the S-curve and had to be towed out--causing a closure of the road for a few hours.

There are "advisory signs" warning vehicles of more than 30 feet in length about the road, but that's all they do is suggest, which is pretty much true of most signs along Carbon Canyon Road like "No Passing" or "25 MPH".  Without enforcement, signs are just two-dimensional pieces of metal that lack any real authority.

What was surprising in the article was to find Chino Hills council member Ed Graham indicating he would bring up the matter of having CalTrans ban certain sized vehicles, though the problem is that Carbon Canyon Road is a state highway and, as such, there may be nothing that can be done to keep large trucks from using the road.

As discussed here a couple of times before, however, is the possibility of doing what happened with a stretch of State Highway 39 along Hacienda Road in La Habra Heights and Hacienda Heights, where that two-lane portion was decommissioned as a state highway and reverted to local control.

Whether Brea and Chino Hills would want to pursue such an action and take full responsibility for maintaining and policing (the latter being largely theoretical, as neither really fulfills that duty which they are supposed to uphold) their portions of Carbon Canyon Road is another matter, but might be something council member Graham would want to discuss at a future Chino Hills City Council meeting.

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