Tehachapi News

Agencies report no problems with weather

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A blast of cold weather slowed down traffic Tuesday morning, Dec. 22, in Tehachapi and kept some high mountain dwellers at home but roads were clear and open at mid-afternoon.

The 165 off-ramp for  Hwy. 58 (the Mojave business turn-off) was closed all day due to high winds.

The California Highway Patrol Mojave officers conducted “round robin” slowdowns on unsafe sections of Hwy 58, off and on between 6:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

In a round robin, officers in cruisers travel at reduced speed across the lanes with their lights on in the front and back of a group of motorists, forcing the drivers to take it easy.

The CHP did not want a replay of the weather situation of two weeks ago, when drivers traveling too fast through unsafe conditions were involved in more than 30 accidents in the same stretch of highway on the east slope.

“Old [long-time] residents know how to drive,” said CHP Officer Roberta Record. Others, she said, “drive like they are in Southern Calfiornia on a 75-degree day in the sunshine.”

Other public safety agencies reported no problems due to the weather.

“It’s been quiet,” said Kern County Sheriff Sgt. Richard Wood at the Tehachapi Substation.

In the city of Tehachapi, the Public Works Department were out early plowing and sanding, City Manager Greg Garrett said.

Dispatcher Becky Rice at Bear Valley Springs Police Department said all the roads there were open to all vehicles but drivers must carry chains.

Temperatures in the Tehachapi area are expected to warm up Wednesday and Thursday.

For Christmas on Friday, it should be sunny with a high temperature of 50 degrees and a low at night of 27.