Carbon Canyon Road S-Curve Widening and the Reversal of the 5-Axle or More Truck Ban

An article by Marianne Napoles in last Saturday's Chino Valley Champion informed readers of plans by CalTrans to, starting in summer 2028, widen the S-curves at the summit along Carbon Canyon Road, which is State Route 142, and it looks as if the reason for doing this was to set the table for a reversal of the ban on trucks with five axles or more on the highway.

This prohibition was years in the making as the cities of Brea and Chino Hills, as well as citizens in both cities, lobbied persistently to persuade CalTrans to enact the policy for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the safety of other drivers because large trucks were continually crossing center lines and entering opposing traffic lanes.

While there are certainly no shortage of violators now, as enforcement is pretty light, the idea of reversing the ban because one section of the highway is being widened has definitely struck a nerve in Chino Hills, as evidenced by the turnout of concerned residents at Tuesday night's Council meeting, even though there were no agenda items relating to the matter.

This meant that it was during general public comment that Carbon Canyon residents took the opportunity to implore the Council to do whatever it could to fight against CalTrans' purported purpose.  Many reasons were cited, including those related to evacuations in case of a wildfire, something, obviously, paramount in many minds given last weekend's 210-acre blaze on the Brea side of the Canyon, along with safety and others.

Because Amazon is in the process of converting a former Bank of America processing center just outside the Canyon on Highway 142 (Valencia Avenue) in Brea, the speculation, naturally, has been that CalTrans' work on the S-curves is at least partially, if not largely (or completely?), based on this project, dubbed the DJT4 Parcel Delivery Facility (on those initials . . . hmmmm).  This lead to some public comments about this possibility.

It was stated that there is a scheduled meeting on 4 May (next Monday) between officials from CalTrans and the City of Chino Hills, so, of course, it'll be very interesting to see what comes out publicly afterward and then what steps will be taken for public comment.  As another commenter said, CalTrans did not notify many residents about this early stage work because it followed an absolute minimum of 500 foot-distance from the work area for notification, but any reasonable effort at transparency would extend that to a fair distance given the size of the Carriage Hills and Summit Ranch tracts, in or near which council members Ray Marquez and Peter Rogers reside.

A concluding point is that one speaker observed that, even if the S-curves were widened to more easily accommodate larger trucks, this would not be the case for Sleepy Hollow, where any such attempt would have to involve condemnation through eminent domain.  Those of us who live in that community (including those who have a roadside view) know how often trucks cross the centerline, have to honk to warn oncoming vehicles or, on occasion, hit residential property.

Widening the S-curves would change nothing in this part of the Canyon and, therefore, pose unacceptable risks to residents and drivers.  We'll see how all this plays out as the project moves forward, but anyone who drives Carbon Canyon Road on a regular basis, beyond those who live in the Canyon, should be aware and concerned about this and find a way to get engaged.

The Champion article states that a public hearing can be requested by 10 May by emailing CalTrans at: D8.1M780.Comments@dot.ca.gov or writing to CalTrans District 8, Attn: Hannah Duarte, Senior Environmental Scientist, 464 W. Fourth Street, MC-820, San Bernardino, CA 92401-1400.

The Chronicle will try to keep updated on the development of this project and share what it learns.

More Carbon Canyon Road Electrical Maintenance Work Tomorrow 14 August

See below, but please note that CalTrans issued its commuter alert and misidentified the closure locations:  it is from CANYON HILLS ROAD to Oak Way Lane.  Click on the link to see the alert and note the map for the route closure locations:

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will be conducting road maintenance on State Route 142 (Carbon Canyon Road) on Thursday, August 14, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Crews from West Electrical Maintenance will be performing routine utility electrical maintenance that will require one-way traffic control from Carbon Canyon Road to Oak Way Lane. Please watch for signage and remember to reduce your speed in and around work zones. For questions, please contact Caltrans District 8 at (909) 329-9747

Carbon Canyon Road Improvements in Sleepy Hollow

Slowly, but steadily, the months-long rehabilitation project by CalTrans District 8 to improve Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142), moves along, despite the closure of the road last week because of a gas line break near the Summit Ranch community in Chino Hills.

So far, the bulk of the work has focused on drainage, reflectors and new guardrails along the project area, spanning from the Orange County line in Sleepy Hollow to the highway's eastern terminus on Chino Hills Parkway at the 71 Freeway.

Installed in rapid precision by crews overnight, a few hundred feet of shiny, new guardrails were installed along the westbound lane of Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142) as part of a months-long rehabilitation project.

Last night, work in Sleepy Hollow was bright (with powerful lighting to assist workers) and noisy (as power tools were in prominent use), but crews worked very quickly to install a few hundred feet or so of new, shiny guardrails on the westbound side of the road where there is a steep slope dropping down to Carbon [Canyon] Creek.

Of course, the thinking behind installing the rails was to prevent vehicles from careening over the side of the road and down the embankment, but it is also possible that drivers may wind up bouncing off the rail and into oncoming traffic in the eastbound lane.  Bad as it would be to have a single-vehicle accident with someone going over the side of the highway, it may well be a lot worse to have a head-in collision or something like it between two or more vehicles.

More updates will be provided as major elements to the project are completed.

Carbon Canyon Road Update from CalTrans

CalTrans District 8 has issued some recent updates concerning the major rehabilitation work ongoing on Carbon Canyon Road (State Route 142) from the Orange/San Bernardino counties line to the 71 Freeway.

One is the construction of a retaining wall at the east end of Sleepy Hollow next to the apartments that were recently red-flagged as unsuitable for occupancy.  After cutting into the hill side, rocks encased in steel mesh have been placed there before the finish work is completed to shore up the hillside. Obviously, CalTrans is concerned that water runoff, despite the drainage channel that runs adjacent to that area, has been a potential hazard to the highway.

The latest advisory, issued last night, concerns a change in hours for work being conducted on Carbon Canyon at Feldspar, one of the two entrances into the Summit Ranch community.  This two-day occurrence involves the closure of one of the two lanes of the highway and will be overnight from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting tonight and going through Friday.  The start time is a few hours than was stated for the project as a whole, so those driving through the area the next couple of nights should expect delays.

Otherwise, there have been plastic reflectors as well as signs with arrows placed at curved areas, such as the S-curve at the summit along the state highway as part of the early stages of the project.  More major updates will be posted as they are issued.

Carbon Canyon Road Water System Project Done?

Based on a few drives over on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon in recent days, it would appear that the extensive work conducted by the city regarding water distribution system aspects is complete.  This project, updating a system that was first installed way back in the 1960s, involving replacement of gate valves air relief valves, blow off valves, water main isolation valves, and vaults with pressure regulating valves, as well as almost 3,500 linear feet of larger water mains along a long stretch of the highway would, if this is true, have been completed on time, which can be a bit of a rarity these days.  One notable and visible change is the installation of a new fire hydrant on the north side of Carbon Canyon Road, just east of the former Manely Friends stable complex.

So, if the project is actually concluded, the next one to come down the pike would be the repaving of the highway, with this latter work conducted by CalTrans.  Of course, this will involve lane closures and slower commutes, though the times during which the work would be done might mirror those of the water system project; in other words, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or something similar to minimize disruption.

To date, the City of Brea Web site does not have any updated information either on the status of the water main work or the resurfacing, but an update will be posted here when one or the other is known.

Carbon Canyon Road Major Construction Projects Coming Soon!

Electronic message boards have just gone up on the Brea portion of Carbon Canyon Road eastbound just past Valencia Avenue and westbound just past the Orange/San Bernardino counties line to notify residents and commuters of two back-to-back projects starting on 19 March and continuing well into May (or longer--see below.)

The first is the replacement of water distribution line components including deteriorated gate valves, air relief valves, blow offs, and pressure regulating valve vaults along the state highway from Carbon Canyon Regional Park to Brea water pump station #3.  Further, the project entails the installation of water main isolation valves to minimize service interruptions and enhance operations of the system and improve accessibility for maintenance.  Then, some 3,400 linear feet of 6" water mains will be removed and replaced by new mains with a 2" wider diameter from the aforementioned pump station to the San Bernardino County line.

The second project is that CalTrans is going to undertake the resurfacing of Carbon Canyon Road, which is why the City of Brea decided to put the water main project on the fast track, getting the latter completed before the former was to be done.

Initially, Brea was only looking to replace the valves and blow offs but decided to tack on the water main upgrades when the CalTrans repaving work became known.  When the project went out to public bid, there were fourteen proposals received with a wide variance in estimates ranging from about $770,000 to almost $1.4 million.  The low bid was submitted by a Pico Rivera firm that has done a number of projects in the city, including the "Financial Center" at Imperial Highway and State College Boulevard, and cleared requirements for a responsible bid. 

With the accepted bid from the contractor, the standard 15% contingency for overruns and unexpected costs, and an additional 10% cost for construction engineering, the total costs are just under $1 million.  Because the 2011-12 budget was for $600,000, staff went to the city council and received approval for the additional $390,000 to meet those construction costs.  This comes out of the city's water fund and would not, therefore, affect Brea's general fund.

Notably, although the message boards state that work will be going through mid-May, Brea staff documents gave a four to five month timeframe for the water delivery system project.  It has also not been publicly stated yet how the project will specifically impact use of Carbon Canyon Road.  The message boards stress using alternate routes, though the only other nearby east-west ones are Grand Avenue, the 60 Freeway and the 91 Freeway.  Anyone who drives these four routes knows that when one is shut down or restricted, especially during busy commute times, the impacts on the other ones can be significant.

And, this will evidently be going for several months, between the water system work and the repaving.  So, this will certainly be interesting come the 19th!