Officials at Caltrans suspended work on the Capstone project at Buckhorn Summit on State Route 299 West on Monday, August 3 in an effort to help quickly move fire equipment to the complex of fires in and around Trinity County. Caltrans has been coordinating with local fire and emergency service officials to put a plan in place that will allow construction to resume and still facilitate the movement of emergency vehicles quickly through the work zone.
Caltrans Fire Response Vehicle Passage Plan – In effect until further notice:
· Caltrans will have representation in the USFS Command Center currently in Hayfork and will work with construction personnel on the SR 299 project when there is a need for quick response to emergency situations.
· A staging area will be set up below the flagging operation on the project, with a CHP officer present to assist with vehicle passage.
· Additional Changeable Message Signs (CMS) will be in place three miles ahead of the staging area.
· Two additional pilot cars will be available to accommodate fire response vehicles.
· An additional Traffic Coordinator will be added to focus on, and coordinate getting fire responders through the project site with minimal delay.
This effort to accommodate westbound traffic expeditiously, may cause eastbound traffic delays to increase.
