i'm sort of amazed that the poor schlubs living along hwy 58 in CA were somehow forced to endure the windmill pollution....
speaking of...
windmills gone wild!
who knew??
(i've driven this route several times on the way to monterey...whew! just missed it!)
windaction.org
Wild windmill shuts down part of Highway 58 indefinitely
A faulty windmill near Tehachapi shuts down all lanes of Highway 58 between highways 202 and 14; and CHP Officers say it could be days before the roadway re-opens. Mojave CHP got the call about the out-of-control windmill located in the Tehachapi Wind Farm a little after 1:20 Sunday afternoon.
May 4, 2009 by Sabrina Rodriguez in Eyewitness News TV 58
A faulty windmill near Tehachapi shuts down all lanes of Highway 58 between highways 202 and 14; and CHP Officers say it could be days before the roadway re-opens.
Mojave CHP got the call about the out-of-control windmill located in the Tehachapi Wind Farm a little after 1:20 Sunday afternoon.
"For some reason the internal breaking mechanism or whatever they use to control the speed of the blades has failed," explained Mojave CHP Sgt. Royal Johnson. "It's turning at a high rate of speed which they can't stop or slow down, possibility is it can fragment and come apart."
Unfortunately, there's no easy way to shut off the windmill or quickly fix the problem.
Gary Spiller, the safety coordinator of Energy Maintenance Service, LLC, which operates the windmills in that area, said they have to wait until the winds die down below 30 miles per hour before anyone can get close enough to fix it, and waiting for that to happen could take anywhere from a few hours to one day or longer.
Given how close the windmill is to Highway 58 and to keep drivers safe, the main artery to Las Vegas and Barstow has been closed indefinitely.
Drivers we spoke with understand the reason for the closure, and one traveler Daniel Bright, on his way to Arizona visit his nephew who just got back from Iraq, wasn't too upset about the lost time. "I'm pretty laid back. I don't stress about much. I just take it easy," he said.
But just about every other driver was frustrated.
Greg Tovar was on his way home when got stuck in the 2 hour, 25 mile detour. "We're hungry and tired," he lamented. "So hopefully we get home soon."
Justin Fields was another road-wary traveler who was upset to run into the road block on his way to Barstow. "It's frustrating, I've been on the road all day and I'm ready to get to my hotel."
Dee Jones was also trying to get to Barstow. He had just driven 6 hours from Livermore when he found out about the road closure. "I don't know what I'm going to do," he cried. "I got to go to work tomorrow, dang!"
It could be awhile before weather conditions allow crews to repair the windmill. According to the National Weather Service, the Tehachapi Mountain Pass is one of the three busiest areas in California, and this is also one of the windiest times of the year.
Web link: bakersfieldnow.com. |
