As promised, Cal Trans has made repair of the highways to the Hill an immediate and high priority. On Friday, Cal Trans issued an $8 million emergency contract to Ames Construction to be repair work on both Highways 74 and 243. there is no estimate of when the work will be completed. Meanwhile the Cal…
The detour sign on Highway 243, across from the Mile High Cafe and Idyllwild School directs drivers on how to get back to Hwy. 243 to Mountain Center. Vehicles can not go beyond Marion View Road south to lower Saunders Meadows. They must take Saunders Meadow Drive from Idyllwild School around past the Transfer Station…
This is a pictorial saga of Highway 243 from just before the entrance to Idyllwild to approximately 13 miles north of Idyllwild. These photographs show the damage to the highway until the highway abruptly ends. Before Idyllwild As one passes lower Saunders Meadow Drive driving north into Idyllwild, the southbound lane is closed….
Highway 74 from Lake Hemet is open to Mountain Center. Highway 243 from Mountain Center is open northbound to Idyllwild. However, southbound (leaving Idyllwild) the Hwy. 243 is closed between Marion View and lower Saunders Meadows. Leaving Idyllwild will require taking Saunders Meadow Dr. past the Transfer Station and down to Hwy 243.
Cal Trans Chief of Public and Media Affairs for District 8, Terri Kasinga has said that Highway 74 from Lake Hemet is open to Mountain Center and Highway 243 to Saunders Meadows is open. The are other impassable spots on highway 243 north of Idyllwild and at Jameson Drive. A lane was lost on Highway…
Brandon McGlover (33), who was charged with starting the Cranson Fire in July 2018, has pleaded guilty. McGlover pleaded guilty to two counts of arson, Penal code 451.5 (c), which is burning of a structure or forest land. “In count one, which is the Cranston Fire, he admitted to an allegation of…
The atmospheric river has dumped greater than torrential rain on the highways servicing Idyllwild. And it is too early to estimate when repairs will be able to be started, let alone completed. Since midnight as of 4:15 p.m., Idyllwild Fire Station has recorded more than 1.6 inches of rain, but the Forest Service’s Keenwild Station…
Feb. 14, 2019 — Cal Fire successfully rescued the occupant of a motor vehicle caught in flood waters at Hwy 74 and Morris Ranch Road.
Feb. 14, 2019 at 12:25 p.m., UPDATED at 12:45 p.m. — The County of Riverside Emergency Management Department is warning and advising all persons in Idyllwild, Pine Cove and Mountain Center to shelter in place because roads leaving those mountain communities are not safe.
The CHP is warning that heavy flooding is eroding pavements and weakening bridges on our local highways. UPDATE Feb. 14, 2019 at 12:10 p.m. — CHP now informs that Hwy 243 is now washed out above Lake Fulmor. Photo by CHP
