Off the Rails on Carbon Canyon Road

It's a shame to see these shiny new guardrails and then have one of them, just weeks after installation as part of the ongoing rehabilitation of Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142), get christened by an errant driver.

This took place westbound between Canon Lane and Canyon Hills Road and clearly took place at high speed, judging by the impact which left the end of the rail look like a fruit roll.

About a week prior to that, the taller directional and suggested speed sign on the middle of the S-curve at the summit to the east got its "ankle" broken clean and the bollard to the right of it, reinstalled next to the power pole there and which has been hit as many times as the sign, was also bent back by the collision.  This was just a few days after two of the three arrow signs put up by CalTrans as part of the current project to provide more advice on how to drive on the curve were flattened.

Finally, and this goes back a few weeks, the new fencing put up by the owner of the historic La Vida Mineral Springs property on the Brea side, also was welcomed to the neighborhood by a driver heading eastbound who obviously took a curve there too quickly, skidded across the westbound lane (fortunately no one was driving that way) and mowed down a good section of the fencing.  Late last week, workers were out putting up new sections.

So, while it is good to see improvements like signs, rails, reflectors and the like, dangerous driving, mostly on weekend evenings, is still a common occurrence, and likely will not diminish without some kind of patrolling.