Month: February 2018

Construction on Highway 1 between Rio Rd & CVR to begin next week

FYI – Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project Pre-Construction Work is about to begin.

The Monterey County Resource Management Agency (RMA) – Public Works just announced that the construction of the Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project is about to begin.

The project will consist of widening northbound Highway 1 from
Rio Road to Carmel Valley Road to provide a truck climbing lane. The truck climbing lane will connect to the existing climbing lane north of Carmel Valley Road. Construction of the Climbing Lane Project will provide better access and reduce congestion in the area. The project duration is expected to last 75 working days, weather permitting.

Pre-construction activities such as utility relocation will take place prior to actual commencement of construction of the project. PG&E will begin moving a gas line on February 12, 2018 which should take approximately 2-3 days and will require minor traffic controls. The immediate area affected will be westbound Rio Road on the East side of Highway 1 near the Chevron station.

The project’s construction activities will require temporary traffic control measures to be implemented, including lane closures, during the course of construction.

RMA staff will make every effort to keep the community updated on the progress of the project as well as the impacts of the traffic controls and road closures. The Monterey County website,
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-i-z/resource-management-
agency/public-works/road-closures will contain up to date information regarding the project.

The Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project estimated construction cost of $7,575,220 is funded by various State, County and TAMC funds. Teichert Construction, from Sacramento, California, was awarded the construction contract for this project.

For more information, please contact Christine Poe, Management Analyst II at (831)755-5025.

Tourism Tuesday, 2/6/18

From the Destination Stewardship Center:

Our four-part strategy”

Highlight the issues. Tourism is changing the world more than people realize. Our Destination Watch section lists ratings and destination-stewardship news for places around the globe. Please get involved.
Provide Stewardship Resources—information and links to services—to help destinations to improve in terms of authenticity, sustainability, and responsible tourism economy.
To those ends, help places adopt the Geotourism approach, defined as: Tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, geology, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.
Help mindful, educated and discerning Geotravelers find access to enjoyable, rewarding, responsible, and enriching trips.
We offer participants a blogging and news aggregation platform with content keyed to these topics.

We invite dedicated people to make this site their own and help save the places we love.

Our invitation: Join us. If we succeed in our mission, it will be because you, the participants, grow the website and its resources (including yourselves) into a self-sustaining entity. Make it your own. We want to build a nonprofit network serving everyone who works where tourism intersects with destination quality.

We invite mission-compatible proposals for partnering, sponsorship, or cooperative ventures. We invite participation by interested individuals—practitioners, civic leaders, sponsors, students, residents, and travelers. Join in and play a role—with blogging, news aggregation, business development, sponsorships, social media and WordPress techniques, content development, online tools, and networking.

Next week I discuss the Character of Place

LPNF releases cause of Whittier Fire, 2/5/18

Los Padres releases cause of the Whittier Fire

GOLETA, Calif. — Los Padres National Forest officials today announced the investigation into the cause of the Whittier Fire has been completed. The investigation determined that a passenger vehicle driving through tall grass on the hillside above Camp Whittier ignited the fire.

No criminal charges have been filed. Due to the age of the driver, no additional details of the investigation will be made public at this time.

The Whittier Fire broke out July 8 on Bureau of Reclamation land and quickly spread onto National Forest System lands on the Santa Barbara Ranger District. The fire burned 18,430 acres before being fully contained on October 5, although the fire did not increase in size after July 20.

Highway Closure Update, 2/5/18

No change in Mud Creek. Paul’s Slide had a signal malfunction today, but otherwise, the same, and the bridge continues to get its final touches. Photos of Mud Creek taken last Wednesday, 1/31.

Photo Sunday, 2/4/18

5 years ago today, Missy wandered into my house, and stole my heart. This was taken the day she arrived:

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She was skinny and covered in ticks, but otherwise healthy.

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This is her now. Fat, sassy, loving, and trusting. And here:

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Break-ins, 2/3/18

Dear Community ,
On Sunday night 4 cars were broken into at the bottom of Partington Ridge. My Truck was one of them. They popped the back of my camper shell open. I had all my Fire,Rescue, Dog and Sheriff SAR gear in boxes in the back of my camper shell. They took a red backpack with gear and most importantly all of my uniforms from 3 different departments that I work and volunteer for. When I think about it, I can’t believe this is happening in our community. Then when I think bigger , I guess its our world.

I want to let these people know it is a FEDERAL offense to have uniforms from Law ,medical or fire that do not belong to them. I would like people far and wide to keep their eyes open for someone using my uniforms from Monterey Country Sheriff SAR , Monterey Bay Search dogs, and Big Sur fire.

If you know anything about the break ins at the bottom of Partington Ridge or anything about my gear or uniforms please call Monterey county Sheriff department.

Thank you and stay safe,
Jeannie Alexander

Where is bigsurkate?

I know it doesn’t look like I am as active as I usually am, but I have entered a phase on my Tourist Tuesdays that requires a more time and effort on my part – that, and a vacation to the desert, a funeral, illnesses, and appointments in Palo Alto have kept me busy.

I like where my Tourist Tuesdays is taking me, and I hope you are enjoying looking for a long-term solution for the “bigger picture” and not just the poo on the side of the road. We need to continue to work on specific issues like bathrooms, traffic, enforcement, etc. while we explore a new paradigm for sharing our coast with visitors.