BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Highway 178 through the canyon will be closed for the next several months. According to Caltrans and the Army Corps of Engineers, the highway was "overwhelmingly impacted" by the Kern River on Saturday and had to be shut down.
Caltrans officials say they tried allowing traffic in a reduced capacity only to see the road conditions get worse. A project team determined the entire road needed to be closed.
Caltrans doesn't expect to fully re-open the highway in the coming months but says a one-way traffic control system is expected to be in place within the next 2 to 4 weeks.
Caltrans says the repairs are currently in the planning stages. The first phase which they expect to launch within the next two weeks will be focused on stabilizing the roadway between Bakersfield and Lake Isabella so they can safely open a traffic lane.
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