Traffic Moving Slowly Around And Through Area Of Kyburz Fire
KYBURZ (CBS13) - One lane of Highway 50 is partly back open in the area of the Kyburz Fire. But traffic is moving slowly because it is being metered and drivers are being escorted about a mile by Caltrans vehicles.
It's also a travel mess along Highway 89 south and Interstate 80, which have served as detours to the Kyburz Fire.
The fastest routes around the fire depend on where you're headed and how much traffic you get stuck behind, according to Caltrans. The escort is about a mile long and took us about 20 minutes to drive through, but it could shape up to be a much longer ride for others.
Yellow lights and warning signs line mile after mile along the eastbound trek up Highway 50. They're preparing drivers for a delayed haul around the Kyburz Fire.
Neil Farthing and his friends were forced to take the Interstate 80 detour an hour before the roadway partly reopened.
"It's about a one-mile stretch of traffic where we're holding cars through on both ends, and then we've got one of our pilot trucks taking people through," said Cal Trans District 3 Public Information Officer Steve Nelson.
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Caltrans is helping navigate 100 cars at a time through the fire zone, which extends from Elder Bridge to Sand Flat.
Our cameras were rolling up the winding stretch of Highway 50 still considered dangerous as firefighters continue to get the upper-hand on the 200-acre fire.
Chuck Flater was among the first to pass through.
"We knew we might have to take a detour around, but we got up just in time as they opened up the road, so we'll get through," said Flater.
While many drivers turned up the tunes to pass the time, the hurry up and wait game turned into a teachable moment for Kathy Carroll.
"It's not too bad. If these guys wouldn't have gotten out of their car, we would have made it through, so everyone needs to stay in their car," said Carroll.
For Dan Abud and his Tahoe-bound friends, the backup provided an opportunity for his dog, Sully, to stretch his legs.
"It was going to take us an extra hour to go south, so we decided to just go through here and check it out and it's a little exciting. You get to see the helicopters," said Abud.
With a solid line around the perimeter of the fire, crews encourage people to stay informed before hitting the road because *all* routes still point toward patience.
All evacuations in the area have been downgraded to voluntary and containment is at 30 percent.
As for when crews will have both lanes open, that's anyone's guess. Officials say as long as they have their heavy equipment and trucks on these narrow roads, it's going to stay at one lane.
