East San Gabriel Valley : Walnut CHP Post Delayed
The California Highway Patrol will have to wait several more years before its officers can respond to traffic accidents on East San Gabriel Valley freeways more quickly.
Until recent state budget cuts wiped out plans for construction next year of a new Walnut CHP station, officials had hoped to dramatically reduce the time it now takes officers to respond from their nearest stations, in Baldwin Park and Sante Fe Springs.
At rush hour, stranded motorists on the Pomona (60) or Orange (57) freeways wait as long as 50 minutes before CHP officers from the Santa Fe Springs station can fight their way through bumper-to-bumper traffic to assist them.
Capt. Bill Whiteside of the Santa Fe Springs office said construction of a station in the Walnut area is likely to begin in 1997 if state funding becomes available over the next two years.
The new station, which would cost an estimated $8 million to $10 million to build, would include a staff of about 70 officers.
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