Cameras to be installed on Gene Autry, Indian Canyon
The City of Palm Springs plans on installing cameras on Indian Canyon Drive and Gene Autry Trail near I-10 to watch for drifting sand.
A fatal accident on Tuesday night may have been caused by bad conditions during a brownout. Two people died and one was sent to the hospital. The crash is still under investigation.
“We are going to speak to witnesses, we are going to investigate the conditions at the scene, those conditions have changed,” said Lt. Mike Kovaleff with the Palm Springs Police Department.
Tuesday night’s high winds kicked up sand, making it very hard to see while driving. Conditions got so bad the temporary walls along Gene Autry had broken. But the street remained open.
“We received no reports at the police department of any hazardous conditions, we usually receive calls on hazardous conditions on our road ways, specifically Indian Canyon Drive, Gene Autry Trail, and Vista Chino any of those areas in the northern parts of the city with the sustained winds,” said Kovaleff.
Without any reports, the city and police department didn’t know how bad the road ways were.
“Our street department looks at that section of road everyday twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon so yesterday at 3 p.m. the street department inspected that portion of the road and didn’t see any sand build up and did not see a problem at that point,” said David Ready, Palm Springs city manager.
Drivers know just how bad it can be to travel down these roads when the winds are blowing hard.
“It’s kind of dangerous when the sand is going, it’s hard to see in it and it’s kind of hard to control your car,” said Chris Marquez who was driving on Tuesday night.
“I have tried to and it’s really hard to see you have to drive slowly, keep your lights on,” said Tony Daniels from Desert Hot Springs.
“Obviously the city and the police department can’t control mother nature. We live in an area that sustains winds and we live in an area that has sand so those two issues alone can create conditions that are unsafe for the public,” said Kovaleff.
The city does plan on installing cameras on Gene Autry and Indian Canyon by December. They would have a live feed so they would know the conditions of the roads as they change in real time.
Federal money has already been set aside to build a bridge on Indian Canyon but not on Gene Autry.
“We are talking hundreds of million of dollars and it’s deemed that the one on Indian Canyon is the priority, so a Gene Autry bridge which would be ideal as well it’s hard to see when the funding might be available,” said Ready.
