Gene Autry Trail and Indian Canyon Drive reopen following sand closures
The strong winds and low visibility shut down two roads in Palm Springs including parts of Gene Autry Trail and North Indian Canyon Drive.
Indian Canyon reopened at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Gene Autry Trail reopened to all traffic a couple of hours later at 10:17 a.m., according to Palm Springs Police.
Early Tuesday morning, a deadly wreck forced Palm Springs Police to close N. Gene Autry Trail through the wash area between Interstate 10 and E. Vista Chino.
The cause of the 6:30 a.m. Tuesday collision on N. Gene Autry Trail was under investigation. There was no immediate word on the vehicle or vehicles involved.
Indian Canyon Drive at Sunrise Parkway, just north of Tramview to Garnet Ave, was also closed due to blowing sand and dust creating low visibility for drivers.
Both Gene Autry Trail and North Indian Canyon Drive were expected to stay closed through Wednesday.
The City of Palm Springs said the road closures were due to the build-up of sand on the roadways. The cleanup couldn't start until the winds died down.
Residents were urged to use alternate routes including Date Palm Drive to Vista Chino Road or Highway 111.
Drivers can use Vista Chino Road or Highway 111 to get in and out of Palm Springs, but traffic was backed up on Interstate 10 eastbound between Palm Drive / N. Gene Autry Trail and Date Palm Drive. Drivers should plan for extra time to get to their destination.
No other details have been released at this time.
Jolie Bosnjak is visiting the valley from New York. She had plans to take North Indian Canyon Drive to visit Joshua Tree but the road was closed.
"Yeah, really frustrating... We're coming from the land of snowstorms and frigid temperatures and just lots of change. So we're kind of looking at this one. Like, we don't see the big deal," said Bosnjak. "But now we're like, alright, let's just find a walking trail near here and we'll just, you know, reroute ourselves."
Valley resident Joseph Rosati tried to get to Palm Springs through Indian Canyon, but he ended up taking a much longer route that doubled his commute time.
"What normally is a like about a 30-minute commute from Bermuda Dunes down to Palm Springs ended up being probably an hour and about 20 minutes or so," said Rosati. "We turned around and tried to take Gene Autry. That was closed and we kept going and we ended up going all the way at the Bob Hope and then took Ramon all the way down to Palm Springs."
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.
