Crowds force California city to close super bloom viewing
Posted March 18, 2019 7:57 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — Overwhelming crowds forced authorities to shut down viewing of a super bloom of poppies on hills around a small Southern California city.
The city of Lake Elsinore closed access to Walker Canyon and cancelled shuttle service after a massive traffic jam developed Sunday.
The city initially tweeted that roads were jammed, traffic on Interstate 15 had stopped moving and law enforcement assistance was requested from neighbouring jurisdictions to deal with the crush.
The city then shut down access, saying the weekend had become unbearable.
The super bloom resulting from extremely wet winter was originally met with excitement in the community about a 90-minute drive from both Los Angeles and San Diego.
But problems surfaced, including people leaving trails and trampling flowers.
And #poppyshutdown began spreading on Twitter.
The Associated Press
