“Update #BeaverFire as of 7:50pm 6/12/18 the fire is being held at 250 Acres and 25% containment No structures lost or threatened. Crews continue to make positive gains.”
UPDATE 5:10 – Beaver fire up to 200 acres.
UPDATE 4:20 pm – fire is now 150 acres.
East of Lockwood: @CAL_FIRE at scene 20-acre fire Coalinga Rd, Bitterwater (San Benito Co) #BeaverFire. There is a Cal Fire Station there. SLO has sent a dozer, and T74 and T75 are flying out of Paso Robles. These hills are extremely dry. Lots of grass.
Much anticipated announcement, and good news, for a change.
*UPDATE*
Caltrans Continues Efforts to Rebuild and Reopen Highway 1
at Mud Creek
New Estimated Opening Slated for end of July
BIG SUR, MONTEREY COUNTY – As Caltrans continues efforts to rebuild and re-open Highway 1 at Mud Creek, the department has announced a new target date of the end of July for opening the route to all travelers.
Department officials announced last August that a new ¼-mile roadway will traverse the site of the massive Mud Creek landslide.
The new roadway will be realigned across the landslide and will be buttressed with a series of embankments, berms, rocks, netting, culverts and other stabilizing material according to department engineers and geologists. This strategy is allowing Caltrans to rebuild the roadway more quickly and at a lower cost than other alternatives such as structures, a tunnel or major earthwork that puts additional fill into the ocean.
“Rebuilding Highway 1 and restoring traffic along the Big Sur coast has been our priority and by opening the highway sooner than expected, it will boost the many central coast communities affected by this major landslide,” said Caltrans Acting District 5 Director Richard Rosales.
The massive slide occurred on May 20, 2017, dumping more than 6 million cubic yards of material onto the roadway and into the ocean, creating 15 additional acres of coastline, making it the largest one ever along the Big Sur coast.
Caltrans engineers have been working closely with contractor John Madonna to increase rebuild productivity, so this combined with favorable weather and longer days will allow us to open the road sooner than our previous mid-September estimate.
Caltrans is continuously evaluating the opening date as roadwork progresses so we anticipate providing a final update by early July. It’s expected that after the highway opens, intermittent weekday lane closures and roadwork will continue for several months to finalize repairs.
I am taking today off, so that I can seek balance, get grounded, enjoy this beautiful place I am blessed to live in, and search for my objectivity, which seems to have departed. I will still be checking on things, so make sure a fire doesn’t start, but otherwise, I will be doing things that bring me joy. Look for the joy in your life today, too. Embrace it.
