Month: November 2017

Highway Closure Update

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Photo 1-3 of Mud Creek (PM 8.9)—revetment work continues and photos 4 and 5 of Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge—contractor stripping overhangs and removing project cameras.

HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – Monday, Nov. 13*
State Route 1 in Monterey County remains closed from north of Salmon Creek, just south of the Ranger Station (PM 3) to just south of Gorda (PM 10) due to the Mud Creek slide. State Route 1 south of Salmon Creek is accessible via State Route 1 in San Luis Obispo County near Ragged Point.

REMINDER: Travelers still CANNOT access the entire length of Highway 1 from Carmel to Cambria but local businesses are open on both sides of Mud Creek.

Mud Creek (PM 8.9)
Mud Creek had a major slide on Saturday, May 20, 2017, losing over 5 million cubic yards of material. Caltrans continues with its plan to realign the existing terrain with the projected timeline to safely open to public traffic is late-summer 2018 at an estimated cost of $40 million.

Last week, the contractor continued placing rock revetment, working from the north going south and will place rock revetment across the entire toe. Roadwork continues to construct the south fill embankment. These same operations will continue this week.

There is currently no public/local access through the Mud Creek area since this remains an active, emergency construction zone.

Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)
Paul’s Slide is still active but the 24/7 traffic signal remains in place and temporary guardrail (k-rail) in the centerline.

Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge [PCB] (PM 45.52)
Final work continues for several weeks. Roadwork at Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge consists of alternating lane closures from 7 am to 4 pm Mondays through Thursdays and 7 am to 2 pm on Fridays until work is complete. The contractor stripped the right side bridge overhang and brackets and removed the project cameras last week. This week they will begin stacking and banding material to demobilize.

LA Times article on Mud Creek

John Duffy used to be Rock Knocker’s old climbing boss. Not that John is old, he isn’t. But he did spend 30 years studying the geology of this area. We went to his retirement party a few years back. He is the most knowledgeable person on the South Coast portion of Highway One in Big Sur. Don Harlan may have known more. John, as the former resident geologist and climber for this stretch of road lays it all out in an excellent article in the LA Times this week on Mud Creek.

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Here is the plan:

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For more photos and the rest of the LA Times article, go here:

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-highway-one-repairs/

 

 

 

Veteran’s Day, 2017

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This is my annual Veterans Day post. (Just part of it this year)

In 1967, after the Summer of Love was over, Viet Nam protests were barely beginning, I found myself in unusual circumstances in an unusual time, and so I joined the USWAC.

The Army was segregated in those days — not by race, but by sex. All WAC training was held at Ft. McClellan, AL and so the Army flew me out to begin my training. It was in Alabama, in 1967 that I first observed racial segregation. I saw “whites-only” bathrooms and water faucets. They were NOT just a “left-over” relic from an earlier and sad time. They were a current condition that blacks and whites found themselves in. They were a commentary on how far we still had to come. Racial segregation, at least not overt discrimination, was minimal in California. It was still rampant in Alabama when I was there.

This past Tuesday, we saw a decisive victory for diversity. I, and all my indigent criminal defense attorney friends, and all my otherwise liberal friends, were over the moon with hope for the first time in a year. I could not be more proud of us, and am proud to call myself a veteran of this diverse and inclusive country that allows us to embrace our differences. Thank you to all who showed up and voted their conscience. It worked. We are taking back America.

Rain, 11/9/17

While Nepenthe’s rain gauge only reported about .37” for the prior 24 hours ending at 6 am this morning, all the gauges down on the South Coast reported well over an inch of rain. For us, I think this indicates the end of the fire season, at least for now. As you can see,  I changed out the fire links on the right for the weather links, as I do twice a year with the seasons. Enjoy the rain, as I am.

Los Padres NF – Monterey District Closure Order, 11/7/17

Los Padres Issues Closure Order for Key Trails, Camps on Monterey Ranger District

GOLETA, CA, November 7, 2017…Los Padres National Forest officials today issued a forest order to maintain a temporary closure of the Pine Ridge (Forest Trail No. E306), Terrace Creek (Forest Trail No. 3E22) and Ventana Camp (Forest Trail No. 2E14) trails, as well as Barlow Flat, Sykes, Redwood, Terrace Creek and Ventana Camps.
The remainder of the Soberanes Fire closure instituted last December on the Monterey Ranger District has been lifted.
Forest Service law enforcement officers will strictly enforce the new closure order, which carries a penalty of $5,000 and/or six months in jail. The order will expire November 6, 2018.
The closure order prohibits the public from being on these three trails or entering these five developed recreation sites due to continued public safety and natural resource concerns within the Soberanes Fire burn area. The closure will remain in effect until the hazardous trails conditions can be mitigated. Adequate surveys of these trails are being undertaken to determine the amount of damage, the subsequent repair needs, environmental planning, and funding sources to accomplish the necessary trail repair work before allowing public access to these popular trails and camps.
The scoping regarding this temporary closure included discussions with local landowners, members of the public, government agencies, as well as cooperators and volunteers.
For additional information, please contact the Monterey Ranger District at (831) 385-5434, or by visiting the Los Padres National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf.

TO BE CLEAR – THE SOBERANES EAST LOOP IS STATE PARK AND NOT AFFECTED BY THIS ORDER. IT IS STILL CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! AS ARE THE LIMEKILN TRAILS, I BELIEVE.

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Tourism Tuesday, 11/7/17

From The NY Times this morning:

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A tour bus on Hollywood Boulevard in 2015. The Los Angeles City Council is considering regulations to limit the access tour vans have in the Hollywood Hills, a neighborhood with narrow, twisting streets. Credit Chad Ress for The New York Times

Good morning.

Today’s introduction comes from Adam Nagourney, the Los Angeles bureau chief.

It’s not so easy living up in the Hollywood Hills these days. First it was the onslaught of tourists on foot, clogging the narrow, twisting streets as they used GPS devices in search of the Hollywood sign. These days, it’s a louder and more cumbersome intruder: open-air tour vans, pushing through on roads that can barely fit one car, some with loudspeakers blaring dubious claims by the driver. (“And on the left, the house where Humphrey Bogart once lived!”)

Confronted with the anguished concerns of neighbors, the Los Angeles City Council is trying to walk a fine line by responding to upset constituents without hurting tourism, a major economic force here. (And there are few tourist draws as big as the Hollywood sign.) The council is moving to adopt regulations that would require tour operators to give patrons private headphones, getting rid of squawky speakers. And the city is drawing up a list of streets where tour vans would be banned completely.

“You’re talking about over 100 buses every day traveling the small streets of Hollywood Hills,” said Anastasia Mann, the president of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council. “Blocking Mulholland Drive and creating huge hazards. It really gets out of hand.”

For the rest of the article:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/us/california-today-for-hollywood-hills-tour-vans-are-nuisance.html

 

Highway Closure Update, 11/6/17

State Route 1 in Monterey County remains closed from north of Salmon Creek, just south of the Ranger Station (PM 3) to just south of Gorda (PM 10) due to the Mud Creek slide. State Route 1 south of Salmon Creek is accessible via State Route 1 in San Luis Obispo County near Ragged Point.

REMINDER: Travelers still CANNOT access the entire length of Highway 1 from Carmel to Cambria but local businesses are open on both sides of Mud Creek.

Mud Creek (PM 8.9)
Mud Creek had a major slide on Saturday, May 20, 2017, losing over 5 million cubic yards of material. Caltrans continues with its plan to realign the existing terrain and photo shows revetment work. The projected timeline to safely open to public traffic is late-summer 2018 at an estimated cost of $40 million.

There is currently no public/local access through the Mud Creek area since this remains an active, emergency construction zone.

Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)
Paul’s Slide is still active but the 24/7 traffic signal remains in place and temporary guardrail (k-rail) in the centerline.

Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge [PCB] (PM 45.52)
Final work continues for several weeks. Roadwork at Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge consists of alternating lane closures from 7 am to 4 pm Mondays through Thursdays and 7 am to 2 pm on Fridays until work is complete. The contractor had been stripping the left side overhang (see photos) and removed the soffit brackets in the bays of the bridge. They are stacking and banding the forming materials and staging them in the office yard to be demobilized. Roadwork this week consists of stripping the right side overhang, stacking and banding material to be moved to office yard and stripping the Abutment 1 end diaphragm. Contractor will resume contouring the material in the canyon.