What happened on the I-15 over the weekend was unacceptable. Northbound I-15 closed for nearly 48 hours???? I understand that things can happen. Trucks can overturn, car accidents and fires can occur, but there has got to be an alternative to keeping people stuck on a freeway for nearly 2 days in 100+ weather.
Years ago, while driving to my job in LA, I was stuck on the Cajon Pass for three hours between the top of the Cajon Pass and the very first turn off for three hours because there was a fire at the bottom of the hill. I was so grateful that I had stopped to use the restroom in Baker, California, which normally I did not do. The weather was fine, luckily. I do remember sitting in my car and thinking about the elderly people and children who had to go to the bathroom, were probably hungry, maybe crying, and stuck in the traffic that was not moving for three hours.
In the end, it took me six hours to get to Glendale, a trip to normally took me three and a half A minor inconvenience in the scheme of the universe, but when you talk about the desert and people being trapped in the heat, running out of gas while idilng or trying to keep their air conditioning running, you've got real problems. I would like to think that people looked out for each other in that circumstance, but I really don't know since I wasn't there.
Ft. Irwin base is near Barstow. The Amry Corp of Engineers are stationed there. Why couldn't they have helped? They would have been glad to, I'm sure. Surely they could have come up with some kind of temporary ramp that would have at least allowed the cars through!
Yes, there are uneven areas between the Northbound and Southbound lanes, and on the shouders, but engineers are problem solvers! You could most certainly find a place to build a ramp where it's fairly flat, or make it work somehow.
Frankly, it's a miracle somebody didn't die. If we had a competent Secretary of Transportation, much more could have been done.
I visit my mom in San Diego pretty frequently, and I always bring several gallons of frozen water in my car, in case a road closure were to occur. Once I gave a frozen gallon of water to some stranded people on the side of the road. (They said they had help on the way) But even my usual planning wouldn't last for 12 hours in the car. Who plans for that?
This is another example of how completely incompetent government can be. Private business would've figured this out and found a way to get everybody out of there as quickly as possible, but government stands there with their thumb up their rear ends and doesn't want to do anything outside the norm, so they just let everybody suffer.
Pete Buttigieg sent out some innocuous tweet about it, which seems to have been deleted. Couldn't grab a quick helicopter ride to check it out personally, Pete? And this is one of the people being considered for VP???
We need to demand better from our so-called "leaders".
Heidi Harris
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