Calif. road stop tradition in peril as highway bypass chokes small town

"For nearly 30 years, thousands of people would stop every year at the old gas station turned jerky shop on Highway 395 on their way to Mammoth from Los Angeles. It was hard to miss Gus' Fresh Jerky, with its white facade plastered with colorful stickers and giant red lettering out front. It was the quintessential roadside stop, a tiny place to fuel up with a shelf-stable snack that would stay good in the pocket of your ski jacket for days."

"Nancy created an online petition asking Caltrans for better signage and safer lighting on the new stretch of roadway, which would help direct drivers who may still want to stop by Olancha. She's also been relentlessly contacting Caltrans and government officials via phone calls and letters, urging them to do right by the small shop turned mini jerky empire and, in turn, the small town, which has fewer than 200 residents."

"Business at Gus' Fresh Jerky is down 90% this year, owner Gus Niepagen estimated, and he said Olancha has become a "dead town" since the roadway that runs by his shop became part of Highway 190. He said he's worried shops like his are just "a piece of old Americana," and as he lamented the loss in business, he sounded almost resigned to the fate of the small shop."

Gus' Fresh Jerky operated for nearly 30 years as a prominent roadside stop on Highway 395, serving travelers to Mammoth. A more than decade-long road realignment completed in 2024 rerouted Highway 395 to bypass Olancha and redirected traffic away from the town. The rerouting has caused business at the flagship jerky shop to fall roughly 90 percent, leaving the owner pessimistic about the shop's future. The owner's daughter, Nancy, expanded the brand elsewhere and launched a petition and repeated outreach to Caltrans and officials seeking better signage and lighting to restore some traffic and help the town.

Read at SFGATE