Project California Brings Sustainable Paving to the Angeles National Forest

If you’ve ever driven the scenic mountain routes connecting the Antelope Valley (Palmdale and Lancaster) to Santa Clarita and the Interstate 5 corridor, you know these rural roads are a vital lifeline. The winding corridors through the Angeles National Forest near the Lake Elizabeth Day Use Area are much more than just a gateway to nature. They serve as crucial bypass arteries for thousands of daily commuters looking to avoid gridlock on the 14 Freeway, while also providing access to popular outdoor escapes like the Pacific Crest Trail. Keeping these heavily traveled, mountainous routes smooth and safe is essential, but repairing them has historically been a massive logistical challenge.

The Problem with Traditional Paving

Traditionally, repaving a rural mountain road meant hauling away tons of torn-up asphalt and trucking in miles of fresh, 300-degree "hot mix." In remote, high-elevation corridors like those in the Angeles National Forest, this method is highly inefficient and costly.

It requires fleets of heavy dump trucks navigating steep grades and winding canyons. This not only snarls commuter traffic and creates safety hazards on narrow roads, but it also heavily impacts the environment and drives up project costs.

The Cold In-place Recycling (CIR) Solution

Project California is back in action in the Angeles National Forest, and we are using a smarter approach.

Instead of the traditional, carbon-heavy method of hauling away old asphalt and trucking in new hot mix, Pavement Recycling Systems brought in their Cold In-place Recycling (CIR) train.

This incredible machinery is a self-contained rolling factory that completely rebuilds the road in a single pass. Here is how it works:

• Mills: The front of the train grinds up the top layer of the existing, degraded pavement.

• Crushes: The old asphalt is instantly broken down and sized on the spot.

• Reprocesses: The material is mixed with an engineered recycling agent and laid directly back down onto the road.

Because the existing road becomes the new road, the CIR process eliminates the need for endless hot-mix delivery trucks climbing up from the valleys. This saves tax dollars, drastically cuts carbon emissions, and ensures the commuters and recreational visitors who rely on these vital shortcuts get their roads back open much faster.

See It In Action!

Check out the video below to see how it's done using Cold In-place Recycling (CIR). Watch how this incredible machinery tackles the job and reprocesses the pavement directly on the spot.