Officials Place Additional Signage on Green Valley Lake Road to Deter Wayward Motorists

Article and photos by Raymond Ray

On Valentine’s Day of 2019, a potent winter storm brought torrential downpours to the San Bernardino Mountains. A section of Highway 18 known as “13 Curves” that stretches from Green Valley Lake Road to Snow Valley, sustained a significant amount of damage. Multiple sections of Highway 18 on this stretch of road suffered major damage and undermining.

Immediately after the damage was inspected by CalTrans, this section of Highway 18 was closed to all motorists. A manned road closure was placed on the upbound 18 at Green Valley Lake Road and downbound 18 was closed at the Big Bear Dam by closing a traffic control gate.

The next day however, motorists attempting to reach Big Bear followed their GPS units’ directions and arrived at the closure. In a case of inaccurate information, the GPS units erroneously directed motorists to an automated routing sequence that took them through Green Valley Lake. Many motorists arrived at the Green Valley Lake campground and found a closed gate on what was supposed to be an open route to Big Bear, according to the GPS devices.

A network of off-road Jeep and fire trails does in fact connect Green Valley Lake and Big Bear. During summer months these are visited by off-roading enthusiasts. During the winter months, these roads are not maintained. Winter storms can bring fallen trees, rock slides and washouts to these roads, causing treacherous and hazardous conditions for motorists.

These are the roads that GPS units erroneously led drivers towards as they attempted to circumvent the road closure while traveling to Big Bear. In an attempt to further notify drivers that there is no Big Bear access through Green Valley Lake, officials have installed new signage on the road immediately adjacent to the closure on Highway 18.

Approximately 7 large signs and barricades now span the first 600 yard section of Green Valley Lake Road. Some signs say, “Not a Through Street,” “Road Closed Ahead,” “Local Access Only,” and “Road Open to Residents Only”. A large light sign is flashing “NO ACCESS TO BIG BEAR”, which is clearly visible to motorists as they turn onto Green Valley Lake Road from Highway 18.

A Caltrans official working at the closure on Highway 18 stated on Friday night that dozens of people per hour were following their GPS units into the community of Green Valley Lake. The new signage on display in the area is an attempt to deter motorists from inundating the small community. The signage is also an effort to prevent motorists from attempting to take the off-road trails to access Big Bear. in addition to the extra signage added me to the closure, message boards on the local area freeways are also displaying information on the closure.

Mountain residents are encouraged to ensure that their guests and visitors are aware that, until the 13 Curves section of Highway 18 can be repaired and reopened, Highway 18 through Lucerne in the high desert and Highway 38 through Mentone are the only two roads with access to Big Bear.