Four of the five members of the Lake Arrowhead MAC – Jenny Hueter, Jim Grant, Ken Stowe and Peter Venturini – were present at the Oct. 6 meeting. (Photo by Mary-Justine Lanyon)

LAKE ARROWHEAD MUNCIPAL ADVISORY COUNCIL
Updates on Caltrans projects

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

In addition to reports from local government agencies and community groups, the members of the Lake Arrowhead Municipal Advisory Council and others attending the Oct. 6 meeting heard an update on Caltrans projects
Andrea Harlin, the government and legislative affairs liaison, reiterated that the contractor had completed all work they could on the soil retention wall on Highway 173 near Mountains Community Hospital before three utilities do some required work. Southern California Edison has completed its work, Frontier should be finished this week and the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District will soon begin. That work should take two months to complete.
At that point, Harlin said, the contractor will repave the lane closest to the wall and then move to the marina side, weather permitting.
“We are getting things done as quickly as we can,” Harlin said. “We want to finish the hospital side before winter.”
The culvert repair project on Highway 18 (reported on in the Sept. 29 issue of The Alpine Mountaineer) will include repairing and replacing culverts from 48th Street to the Crestline bridge. The goal, Halpin said, is to “preserve the integrity of Highway 18.” Work began on Oct. 3 at the bottom of Highway 18 and is expected to continue to the spring of 2024. There are 21 culverts that will either be replaced or repaired. “Storm water experts examined the culverts,” Halpin said, “and determined they are severely rusted.
“If we don’t address this now, it could lead to something more inconvenient for everyone – including the spending of more taxpayer funds.”
Where culverts are close together, the contractor will work on several at one, extending the construction zone.
One lane of Highway 18 will be closed in each direction, Halpin explained. In addition, drivers should anticipate traffic switches, where the lanes are reconfigured to create space for the construction activities.
In case of fire or other emergency situations, construction will stop, Halpin said. “Caltrans takes on a support role and takes their lead from the first responders.”
Meanwhile, the Narrows has been closed for the past two weeks. “This is a different maintenance operation,” Halpin said. Crews are clearing out culverts so they don’t become clogged. To the best of her knowledge, there are no culverts in the Narrows that need to be repaired. But, she added, “this is a good opportunity to determine if any need repair or replacement.”
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
Speaking for the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, Lt. Craig Harris said the new CVS “got hit with a substantial theft three weeks ago.” The suspects, he said, had large bags and took thousands of dollars worth of cosmetics. About a week later, he added, Rite Aid suffered a similar theft by different suspects. “They cleaned out shelves of high-end liquor. We are following leads. The suspects are not local. They are typically part of a larger theft crew and do this as their business.”
Referring to the September storm incident, San Bernardino County Fire Battalion Chief Mark Bixler said it was a storm unlike any he had ever experienced in Southern California. While the mountain communities received about two inches of rain an hour, the effect in Lake Arrowhead and Crestline “was pretty minimal compared to Angeles Oaks and Forest Falls.”