Photos of Mud Creek (PM 8.9) from Saturday, March 24 and Aerials of Mud Creek (PM 8.9) and Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6) from Friday, March 23—Courtesy of John Madonna and labeled accordingly.

HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – Monday, March 26
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.

This week: The same ongoing operations continued: placing rock at the toe, building up the north fill, and excavating material below the new alignment to finished grade.

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)
Three days of daytime closures from 6 am to 7 pm each day have been in effect since Saturday, March 24 through today, Monday, March 26. Motorists have been able to go through Paul’s prior to 6 am or after 7 pm on those three days. Paul’s Slide resumes its opening under the 24/7 traffic signal and temporary guardrail (k-rail) in the centerline as of 7 pm today, Monday, March 26, weather permitting.

 

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Helicopter Hoist Rescue at Arroyo Seco River 03/25/2018

At approximately 1705 on Sunday March 25, 2018 Greenfield Fire Protection District, City of Soledad Fire Department and CAL FIRE responded to a report of a truck in the middle of the Arroyo Seco River with two persons trapped in the bed of the truck. This was reported to be in the area of Arroyo Seco Rd and Cedar Ave. The water was approximately 4 feet deep and flowing at a fast pace. First arriving fire resources determined that a helicopter was needed for the rescue.

CAL FIRE Copter 406, from Bear Valley Helitack Base, arrived at scene, assessed the situation from the air, accepted the rescue and rigged the helicopter for a hoist rescue. This technical exercise requires specialized rescue skills that the staff of Copter 406 train for regularly. A firefighter was lowered by mechanical hoist from the helicopter and rigged the victims to be lifted from the pickup. The successful rescue took approximately 15 minutes from arrival of the helicopter. Victims were flown to the shore assessed for injuries and released.

Soledad FD partners in a cooperative agreement with CAL FIRE for fire services. Soledad FD staffs one engine in the city 24/7 with two firefighters.

Who:​​Soledad FD/CAL FIRE/ Greenfield Fire
What:​​Helicopter Hoist Rescue
When:​​March 25th 2018 at approximately 1705
Where:​​Arroyo Seco River, Soledad (Monterey County)

From Cal Trans:

3) TODAY—3:45 PM

Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)–Caltrans Maintenance, Construction and Geotech personnel met with the contractor (JMC) and determined three days are needed to clear all the slide material that poured over and that is still being contained within the temporary guardrail (please refer to attached photos from yesterday). A live lane is need for this operation to release and clear out all the slide material. Three days of daytime closures from 6 am to 7 pm each day are in effect starting tomorrow, Saturday, March 24 through Monday, March 26. Motorists can go through Paul’s prior to 6 am or after 7 pm on those three days. Paul’s Slide resumes its opening under the temporary signal as of 7 pm on Monday, March 26, weather permitting.

Incident: 00202 Type: CLOSURE of a Road Location: Sr1 N / Lucia Loc Desc: JSO MM 23.00 Lat/Lon: 36.020556 -121.548889
Detail Information
1:50 PM 2 [3] FULLY CLOSED FOR CLEANUP
1:49 PM 1 [1] FOR THE NEXT 3 DAYS STARTING TOMORROW CLOSED
Unit Information
1:53 PM 2 Unit Assigned
1:53 PM 1 Unit At Scene

Paul’s Slide, Photo by Brendon Shave:

Anderson Canyon Slide, Photo by Grace Lutz. South Coast Island today. Note, this is the same spot where a much bigger slide came down last year.

11 am – Cal trans update
TODAY—10:55 AM
Status: New (Thursday, March 22)
Location: District 5, SR 1, Monterey
Description: Due to rocks falling onto the roadway
Impact: Route closed at Anderson Canyon Bridge (PM 35.35)
Estimated Time of Reopening: Could be sooner than Friday, but no ETO at this point.

TODAY—10:55 AM
Status: New (Thursday, March 22), extension of closure
Location: District 5, SR 1, Monterey
Description: Due to rocks falling onto the roadway
Impact: Route closed from just north of Nacimiento-Fergusson (PM 18.9) and Hermitage (PM 22.42)
Estimated Time of Reopening: Friday morning, March 23, after assessing and storm has passed.

YESTERDAY
Status: Wednesday, March 21
Location: District 5, SR 1, San Luis Obispo
Description: Due to rocks falling onto the roadway
Impact: Route closed from Ragged Point (just past the Ragged Pt. Inn, SLO PM 72.87) to Gorda (PM 10)
Estimated Time of Reopening: Friday morning, March 23, after assessing and storm has passed.

9:30 am – Paul’s Slide today, photos by Grace Lutz:

9:00 am from Susana at CT:

Photos: 1) Chimney Slide (PM 20 from Tuesday, March 20), 2) Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6 from Tuesday, March 20) and 3) Paul’s Slide yesterday, March 21—courtesy of Big Sur Kate

WE NOW HAVE TWO SEPARATE CLOSURE LOCATIONS ON STATE ROUTE 1 BETWEEN RAGGED PT. (SLO PM 72.87) AND PAUL’S SLIDE (MON PM 21.6)

TODAY
Status: New (Thursday, March 22)
Location: District 5, SR 1, Monterey
Description: Due to rocks falling onto the roadway
Impact: Route closed from Nacimiento-Fergusson (PM 18.9) and Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)
Estimated Time of Reopening: Friday morning, March 23, after assessing and storm has passed.

YESTERDAY
Status: Wednesday, March 21
Location: District 5, SR 1, San Luis Obispo
Description: Due to rocks falling onto the roadway
Impact: Route closed from Ragged Point (just past the Ragged Pt. Inn, SLO PM 72.87) to Gorda (PM 10)
Estimated Time of Reopening: Friday morning, March 23, after assessing and storm has passed. [Ed – I believe Susana is referring to the slide at Paul’s NOT Mud Creek re eta tomorrow for opening.]

NOTE: At this point, motorists can still access Ragged Point Inn from the south. The closures are between Ragged Point (SLO, PM 72.87) and Gorda (Mon, PM 10) and Nacimiento-Fergusson (PM 18.9) to Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6).

An update will be provided as conditions change.

8:16 am – Paul’s Slide…I called this one yesterday…
Incident: 00086 Type: CLOSURE of a Road Location: Sr1 S / Lucia, Mm 23.0 Loc Desc: SB 1 AT LUCIA Lat/Lon: 36.020912 -121.549498
Detail Information
8:16 AM 1 [1] HWY 1 IS CLOSED BTWN NACIMIENTO AND LUCIA

7 am – In the last 24 hours, Three Peaks in southern Big Sur got over 5 and 1/2 “, and Rocky Butte in Northern SLO Co (southern Santa Lucia’s back behind Hearst Castle) got over 7”. And down there in that general area, is Mud Creek. Hard to know what kind of mess that is, and it isn’t over, yet. The atmospheric river is predicted to continue “hosing” this area throughout the day.

The good news is that Santa Barbara has not been hit as hard as SLO CO. Let’s hope that keeps up today. Be safe, out there.

7:30 pm – This is a notification from Alert Monterey County:
From Monterey County OES. An atmospheric river is forecast to hit the southern area of Monterey County impacting the entire southern third of the County, but will be felt County-wide. Residents of Southern Monterey County from the coastal areas inland to the eastern border are encouraged to keep an eye on water drainages, streams and river levels and watch for conditions posing a threat to life or property. Take precautions to mitigate potential flooding and be prepared to evacuate should the situation warrant. Please stay tuned to your local radio and television stations for updates on weather conditions by the National Weather Service. Monterey County OES will update as warranted.