Angeles Crest Highway

Angeles Crest Highway between La Cañada Flintridge and Mt. Wilson road will remain closed into December, state transportation officials said Monday. The 20-mile stretch of highway has been off-limits to motorists since January when rains triggered heavy erosion in the fire-ravaged Angeles National Forest. The largest washout, which occurred near Brown Canyon, was about 200-feet deep and required the reconstruction of the entire hillside. The $16.5-million in repairs by Thousand Oaks-based Burns Pacific Construction was scheduled to be completed in November.

A motorcyclist who crashed in a single vehicle accident on Angeles Crest Highway Tuesday afternoon suffered only minor injuries, authorities said. California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Kevin Denmon said that although the crash took place at mile marker 41, between Mount Wilson and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon roads, around 1:30 p.m. Denmon said that the motorist was unconscious or semi-conscious when officers arrived, leading to a helicopter evacuation to Verdugo Hills Hospital, but that the motorist wasn't seriously injured.

Documentary film producer Brian Gerber took his own life late Tuesday or early Wednesday by steering his car off a cliff on Angeles Crest Highway, according to county officials. Ed Winter, assistant chief at the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, confirmed that Gerber's body was found near mile marker 31 at 7:35 a.m. Wednesday. Winter said investigators found a suicide note by the highway, near where the car went off the side. Gerber, 41, produced the global warming documentary “The 11th Hour” for actor Leonardo DiCaprio and was involved in numerous other productions for the film, television and music video markets.

Two motorists died in separate crashes on Angeles Crest Highway over the weekend, bringing to five the number of fatalities since the road was recently reopened. The latest crash occurred early Sunday. A witness at the Coldwater Campground reported seeing a blue Honda go off the road near mile marker 32 on San Gabriel Canyon Road about 2:27 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. The name of the victim, a woman between 40 and 50 years old, has not been released.

State officials reopened Angeles Crest (2) Highway early Monday, but warned that the steep hillsides remained fragile. The highway and other roads were closed earlier this month after rainstorms sent debris and mud onto the right-of-way. Crews will continue to clear debris from drainage sites and road shoulders, which may cause some traffic delays, according to the California Department of Transportation. Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road were reopened last week.

Documentary film producer Brian Gerber took his own life late Tuesday or early Wednesday by steering his car off a cliff on Angeles Crest Highway, according to county officials. Ed Winter, assistant chief at the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, confirmed that Gerber's body was found near mile marker 31 at 7:35 a.m. Wednesday. Winter said investigators found a suicide note by the highway, near where the car went off the side. Gerber, 41, produced the global warming documentary “The 11th Hour” for actor Leonardo DiCaprio and was involved in numerous other productions for the film, television and music video markets.

Los Angeles County coroner officials identified the 25-year-old La Mirada man whose car plunged 300 feet off a steep highway in Angeles National Forest. The man, Andrew Searcy, was found dead inside the crumpled car by county sheriff's deputies about 8:15 a.m. Monday off Angeles Forest Highway near Mt. Gleason Road. He had been reported missing on Sunday. An autopsy was pending, Assistant Chief L.A. County Coroner Ed Winter said. Sheriff's deputies from Norwalk used a helicopter to trace his route and found the crashed vehicle.

A motorcyclist who crashed in a single vehicle accident on Angeles Crest Highway Tuesday afternoon suffered only minor injuries, authorities said. California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Kevin Denmon said that although the crash took place at mile marker 41, between Mount Wilson and Upper Big Tujunga Canyon roads, around 1:30 p.m. Denmon said that the motorist was unconscious or semi-conscious when officers arrived, leading to a helicopter evacuation to Verdugo Hills Hospital, but that the motorist wasn't seriously injured.

Despite another fatal crash on Angeles Crest Highway over the weekend - the fourth since the lower part of the highway reopened in June - California Highway Patrol officials say it's drivers who are dangerous, not the road. On Saturday, Bellflower resident Edgar Martinez, 18, was killed when he entered a curve at about 45 mph but failed to turn, hitting a mountainside and flipping his car, according to CHP Officer Ming Hsu. Witnesses told officers there was no indication he was traveling at an excessive speed, and Hsu said there were no indications that drugs or alcohol were involved.

Two motorists died in separate crashes on Angeles Crest Highway over the weekend, bringing to five the number of fatalities since the road was recently reopened. The latest crash occurred early Sunday. A witness at the Coldwater Campground reported seeing a blue Honda go off the road near mile marker 32 on San Gabriel Canyon Road about 2:27 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. The name of the victim, a woman between 40 and 50 years old, has not been released.

A driver was killed Saturday in a single-vehicle wreck on Angeles Crest Highway, some 15 miles above La Cañada Flintridge.   The crash occurred near highway mile marker 39, a few miles northeast of Angeles Forest Highway, Sgt. Kim Shelton of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station said.   “It was a single-vehicle rollover and the driver was pronounced dead at the scene,” Shelton said.   Further details about the wreck, under investigation by the California Highway Patrol, were not immediately available.

California Highway Patrol officers issued nearly five dozen traffic citations this past weekend on the steep and mountainous Angeles Crest Highway in response to reports of speeding motorcyclists and close-call collisions. The enforcement campaign yielded citations for speeding, unsafe passing and other violations as California Highway Patrol officers staked out the 66-mile route popular with motorcyclists eager to test their skills on the roadway's tight curve. Some near-collisions, including skids into oncoming traffic, have been posted on YouTube.

California Highway Patrol officers will be combing the Angeles Crest (2) Highway on Saturday as part of a motorcycle safety enforcement campaign. ------------------------- FOR THE RECORD: The orginal version of this post stated the campaign would take place Sunday, but the CHP later amended the date to Saturday. ------------------------- The campaign is in response to a series of fatal collisions on the mountainous pass involving motorcyclists. Between 2007-2009, there were 10 motorcycle-involved fatalities and 195 injuries on the corridor, according to the Highway Patrol.

A La Cañada resident is asking state transportation officials to help increase bicyclist safety along Angeles Crest Highway by replacing missing signs that remind motorists to share the road. As bicyclists converge on the mountainous pass, which recently re-opened after nearly 17 months of construction, La Cañadan Trent Sanders is lobbying the California Department of Transportation to replace three safety signs that were lost in the 2009 Station fire, and to install additional signs advising cyclists to ride single-file.

In the August 2011 issue of Motor Trend Magazine there was an article comparing two new BMWs, the M1 and the M3. The author got two California Highway Patrol officers to close a portion of the newly opened Angeles Crest Highway in order to put these cars to the test. The article goes on to talk about the high-speed turns the cars took and how well the cars took them. When young drivers read an article like this, they too want the rush of taking these high-speed turns. This is an extremely dangerous stunt that can result in major injuries and, as we have seen in the recent weeks, even death.