Highway 178 through canyon to close long term, but one-way control could be ready in 2 to 4 weeks

The long-term closure of Highway 178 through the Kern River Canyon was made official by Caltrans in a news release Thursday afternoon.

But there’s good news, too.

The project team overseeing the emergency repair aims to have the roadway partially reopened using one-way traffic control during construction — which is expected to be in place within the next two to four weeks. On Saturday, the curving canyon road was overwhelmingly impacted by high water on the Kern River, which forced a closure due to roadway damage, Caltrans said in the release.

The problems began early Saturday, when 178 was briefly reduced to one-way traffic control due to visible damage to the roadway. As the damage to the roadway worsened, Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol moved to a full closure of the state highway.

Preliminary findings showed the roadway was being undermined by the Kern River.

Over the past few days, an emergency Caltrans project team consisting of construction, maintenance engineering, geotech and field maintenance conducted damage assessments and preliminary planning for executing the emergency repairs, the news release said.

Due to the severity of the damage to the roadway, Caltrans does not anticipate the roadway to be fully reopened in the coming months.

Currently, road repairs are in the planning stages, with Caltrans aiming to have a contractor on board by the end of the week, with construction beginning within one to two weeks. The first phase of work will aim to stabilize the roadway and provide safe passage via one-way traffic control between Bakersfield and the Lake Isabella area, Caltrans said. Closures may continue for longer periods of time, if necessary, due to delays caused by weather or uncontrollable events that may occur.