Photo of Anderson Creek Slide (PM 35.4), after being cleared on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 28.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. Our Maintenance and Geotech crews have been working diligently, clearing, cleaning, and scaling as much as safely possible in response to these rock/mudslides.
***SAME INFORMATION AS SATURDAY AFTERNOON***
*We have cleared the slide at Anderson Cyn (PM 35.4), but still have numerous slides between the closure points, the largest being at: Mud Creek (PM 8.88), Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6) and Big Creek (PM 28.09).
All Motorists may travel south on Hwy. 1 from Carmel to Dolan Pt. (PM 29.70)
or travel north from Cambria to Ragged Point.
CHP is monitoring the closure at Dolan Pt.
Another update will be provided Tuesday, Jan. 31 around noontime, or sooner if conditions change.
Susana Z. Cruz
Caltrans District 5
Public Information Officer/
Now, to offer my own personal observations. I saw Mud Creek yesterday with Rock Knocker. He was quite concerned at what he saw and is afraid we will lose the road there. The mountain is moving and the geologists have left all sorts of markings so they can check the timing and amount of movement going on. The road is buckled in 3 places. One crack has water running into it and out the West Bank causing considerable erosion. At the Duck Pond, just the next historical slide to the south a 1/4 mile or so, there is a 36″ pipe that goes under the road and disperses the water running into the large drain. That pipe is disgorging what appears to be hundreds of gallons a minute. I an not a good judge of this, but to give you an idea, much of this water was going straight out this very large pipe, not down at all. If Rock Knocker feels up to it (he gave me this darned flu) he is going up to the top and hopes to take photos for me and explain them so I can post a more informed, factually-based opinion tomorrow.
Some uninformed people seem to be of the opinion that since the road is “cleared” people should be allowed through. (The Chamber posted a photo provided by Treebones yesterday, but that may not infer that they are “encouraging” traffic.) That is extremely dangerous thinking. This spot is far from safe, and no unnecessary travel through it should be encouraged. When she goes, she will bury anything in her path. I wouldn’t want to contribute to anyone getting injured. Do you?
Thanks for the informed diagnosis of Mud Creek from our reliable Rock Knocker, who I recall accurately predicted the Rocky Creek road bed collapse a few years ago. I recall the photo of the vehicle that had a near miss, almost getting sucked down with the road bed to the rocks and ocean hundreds of feet below. However, I find it interesting that CHP earlier today was reporting that Mud Creek will be open at 6pm this evening. Based on Rock Knocker’s evaluation, I would advise anyone considering passing through Mud Creek at that time, or anytime before geologists confirm stability, to re-consider the risk. I would definitely not want to go through that area unless there’s enough daylight to be able to scan the hillside before passing below that hazardous slope. Despite having to drive an additional 1 & 3/4 hour, I’ll be taking the long way to work today and spending the night there for the rest of the work week.
Smart move, Suzi. I did not see the CHP report. On website? I checked it earlier and did not see it.
bigsurkate
I agree, Kate, “cleared” doesn’t mean safe for travel- unfortunately, greed still prevails over common sense and sensible thinking quite often. For over a week now, the 3 campgrounds in the closed section have been telling people with reservations to just come on down through the closure because they are “Locals” while camping there- What A Crock Of $#¥7!
All of our incoming guests to Treebones have been advised to travel over Nacimiento to get here. We definitely wouldn’t encourage guests drive through the hard closures..
Thanks, Michael. That is encouraging.
bigsurkate