{"id":183649,"date":"2026-02-18T23:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/183649\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T23:43:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:43:32","slug":"caltrans-preparing-roads-ahead-of-incoming-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/183649\/","title":{"rendered":"Caltrans preparing roads ahead of incoming storm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 As another round of <a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/second-round-of-winter-storm-to-bring-wind-rain-and-snow-back-to-kern-county\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">storm weather threatens Southern and Central California roads, <\/a>Caltrans crews have been preparing since this past weekend, prepositioning equipment and clearing infrastructure in areas prone to flooding and snow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaintenance crews are on standby for flooding and reflow at any other storm that may occur on Caltrans highway and state roads,\u201d said Colleen Park, a public information officer for Caltrans District 7 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A winter storm in Kern County on February 16, 2026. KBAK\/KBFX\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2954dc41-3938-4dfb-b3af-516b28b5ccbe-Sequence_MILLSWINDRAINTREEDOWN_0001_frame_17303.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A winter storm in Kern County on February 16, 2026. KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n<p>Park said crews have been staging plows and water pumps in flood-prone locations. \u201cCrews have been clearing out storm drains and laying sandbags to redirect water,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Caltrans is also monitoring mountain routes and preparing to remove snow and close roads if conditions become too icy. One of the areas crews cover is the Grapevine. \u201cIf conditions become too icy and cars are prone to sliding, we might close the roadway,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Strong weather impacting Grapevine, drivers urged to slow down as crashes begin (Photo: CHP Fort Tejon)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/168f42b0-cd6d-47be-9c34-cce754f276ed-612394824_1287369716751135_9219818878472851681_n.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Strong weather impacting Grapevine, drivers urged to slow down as crashes begin (Photo: CHP Fort Tejon)<\/p>\n<p>Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol\u2019s Fort Tejon office said they are continuing to monitor conditions.<\/p>\n<p>With many students relying on those same roadways to get to school, districts are also watching the forecast closely. The Kern County superintendent of schools said decisions to delay or cancel classes are made by individual districts.<\/p>\n<p>All three schools in the El Tejon Unified School District were closed today due to snow and ice, according to the district. Officials said transportation crews head out before sunrise to drive mountain roads and check for snow and ice. If conditions are icy, the district calls a two-hour delay before buses roll out. If roads are still unsafe, school is canceled for the day.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A winter storm in Kern County on February 16, 2026. KBAK\/KBFX\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/7b189055-d6ae-4c4a-b655-ae1897f2801e-Sequence_LINARES_WEATHERGRAPEVINEBASE_0001_frame_1465.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A winter storm in Kern County on February 16, 2026. KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n<p>Parents are notified through calls, texts, email and <a href=\"https:\/\/alertline.kern.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kern Alert<\/a>. Officials said weather can change quickly and early releases are possible if conditions worsen during the day.<\/p>\n<p>Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n<p>BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT<\/p>\n<p>Caltrans urged drivers to slow down, leave extra space, and <a href=\"https:\/\/quickmap.dot.ca.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">check road conditions before heading out.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 As another round of storm weather threatens Southern and Central California roads, Caltrans crews have&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-183649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}