Date:	Friday, April 5, 2024
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Jim Shivers
Phone:	(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                                                                                                                  UPDATE #6

HIGHWAY 1 CONVOYS EXPECTED TO RESUME THIS WEEKEND PENDING FINAL ASSESSMENTS BY CALTRANS ENGINEERS

MONTEREY COUNTY– The daily convoys on Highway 1 through the site of the Rocky Creek Slip Out are expected to resume on Saturday, April 6 at 8 am and again at 4 pm pending final assessments by Caltrans engineers scheduled to take place early tomorrow morning.

Caltrans Engineers and maintenance staff continue to monitor the site for any significant changes and the public will be advised of any modifications to this schedule.

Activities this week included the addition of gravel to the drainage ditch off the shoulder of the northbound lane to ensure proper drainage through the site. Work was also completed to pave over a gravel-filled ditch and part of the dirt shoulder of the northbound lane to gain extra room in the travel lane.

Caltrans is continuing to focus on repair strategies to stabilize the edge of the roadway with details of this operation, work hours and timetable to be announced when details are certain.  Work activities to commence this weekend include the installation of barrier to protect highway workers and temporary re-striping to accommodate equipment expected to be mobilized to this area.

Updates on the status of the closure of Highway 1 at the Rocky Creek Bridge will be provided as more information becomes available.

Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.

I have been going back through blog posts from the last Rocky Creek Slip out from 13 years ago to see how long it took to get the road passable. Let’s begin at the beginning. March 16, 2011. Big Sur was cut off from the north. It wouldn’t be long before a slide at Alder Creek cut off Big Sur to the South. Nacimiento was the only way out — until the slide at Limekiln cut off that route as well. It was an incredibly dynamic March that year.

This is the day it happened: https://bigsurkate.blog/2011/03/16/road-closed/ Read all about it and see the photos people shared.

March 24, 2011, 8 days after the road slipped out, Caltrans closed it to all traffic — foot and pedestrian so they could drill for 250 soil nails. People had been able to traverse it to get out or back in some days that week. “CHP will be on site 24/7 starting today so no foot traffic until further notice. There will be another meeting on the 29th at 1:00 p.m. and a decision on foot traffic will be made then. ” https://bigsurkate.blog/2011/03/23/report-on-meeting-with-cal-trans-about-closure/ See my blog for photos and further.

By March 29, 2011, pedestrian crossing was allowed only twice a day. “one report out of today’s meeting is Ped access starting tomorrow. 7:00 am and again at 4PM only until the last pedestrian in line AT THAT TIME is across. Escorted. The second important piece of information is that it is looking like a one lane opening will not happen in the middle of the month, closer to the end. Also, there will be a weight restriction of 5 tons, which will heavily impact the businesses and campgrounds. Further, this one lane with weight restriction could be in place for up to a year.” See blog post here for more info and photos. https://bigsurkate.blog/2011/03/29/tuesdays-news-views/

Rocky Creek Update

The permanent viaduct construction did not begin until September of 2012. For the first press release about this and the overnight closures see: http://bigsurkate.blog/2012/09/28/rocky-creek-viaduct-closure-press-release-number-1/

Here are two photos sent to me by Ben Grasmuck, CHP, retired, who was working highway 1 in Big Sur, and his comment that he left on this post after the photos.

Ben’s comment:
“A lot happened in the months after the slide.  Officer Mike Hamilton and I alternated living down there at the MAF for a month.  It was one of the busiest months I ever spent on the Highway Patrol and i didn’t write a ticket, work a traffic collision or arrest anyone.  I look back on it very fondly, I spent a month helping people and that was pretty much it.  It was a busy month.  ”

On March 16, 2011, twelve miles south of Carmel, California, the southbound lane of Highway 1
sustained a catastrophic failure when part of the roadway suddenly collapsed into the Pacific Ocean. This year, Saturday, March 30th, the day before Easter, the southbound land of Highway 1 slid into the ocean. The mountains and Mother Nature keep sending us a message.

And there you have the history of the 2011 Rocky Creek slip-out. It should help you make plans and understand whatI MIGHT happen again, this time around.