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Resident urges return of emergency call boxes and multilingual river signage in Kern River Canyon
Summary
A Wofford Heights resident told the Kern COG Transportation Planning Policy Committee that removal of roadside emergency call boxes and lack of cell coverage leave canyon residents and visitors stranded; county officials described past legal and cost reasons for removing the boxes and said they will look into possible fixes.
A Wofford Heights resident told the Transportation Planning Policy Committee on Tuesday that the removal of emergency call boxes and the absence of cellular service have created “truly unsafe” conditions in the Kern River Canyon, and urged officials to reinstall call boxes and add multilingual river-safety signs.
Vicky Vega, who said she has been driving the canyon for about 50 years, said the call boxes that once provided specific location numbers for first responders were removed after the spread of cell phones, but that much of the canyon has no cell service. “If someone is injured in an accident, you have to wait until someone…
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