Month: October 2018

Overnight Closures at Paul’s Slide Oct 28th and Oct 29th

Today’s Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2018

District:   05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa  Cruz Counties

Contact:                  Susana Z Cruz (bilingual) or Colin Jones

Phone:                             (805) 549-3138 or 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EMERGENCY RETAINING WALL REPAIR AT PAUL’S SLIDE REQUIRES TWO FULL OVERNIGHT CLOSURES IN BIG SUR STARTING SUNDAY NIGHT, OCT. 28

MONTEREY COUNTY – Construction work on the existing retaining wall will requires both directions of State Route 1 at Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6) to fully close overnight for two nights, starting on Sunday, Oct. 28.

The highway will be closed from 10 pm to 6 am the next morning. Motorists/cyclists are advised to plan around these two emergency overnight full closures. This roadwork should be completed by Tuesday morning, Oct. 30 at 6 am.

Note: Emergency services will be allowed passage through road closure.

Paul’s Slide suffered major storm damage in January, 2017, losing part of its embankment including the southbound lane and closing for several months. Paul’s Slide near Limekiln State Park remains active and continues to be monitored. It has currently been operating under a temporary traffic signal for over a year and the signal will remain in place.

John Madonna Construction of San Luis Obispo is the contractor for this project. Construction work on the existing retaining wall at Paul’s Slide will ensure a safer environment for all travelers. 

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through Highway work zones.

For more information on this project and for traffic updates on other Caltrans projects in Monterey County, residents can call the District 5 toll free number at 1-831-372-0862 or can visit our website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/paffairs/release.htm#mon

 Susana Z. Cruz, Caltrans District 5

Public Information Officer 

Gray Slip, 1981 – a look back through photos

Today,  I am continuing with the historical perspective I started Monday on Gray Slip. One of these photos from 1981 I know I have published before, but I don’t think I have some of the others. It helps to understand where we are currently by looking back at where we have been. These are the oldest photos I have in my collection of this area, so we will start there.

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Tourist Tuesday, 10/16/18

There is a good article re the changes to Point Lobos going on to deal with the issues of overuse in the SJ Merc by Lisa Krieger.

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POINT LOBOS – Securing a spot at this famed coastal reserve will soon be like scoring a table at Mario Batali’s hottest new restaurant.

In an attempt to reduce crowds at one of California’s most scenic places, Point LobosState Natural Reserve will soon become the first state park to require visitors to obtain reservations at peak times, following the successful example set by the National Park Service’s Muir Woods parking reservation system last year.

Managers of the preserve, famed for its beautiful vistas and miserable parking, say it’s being loved to death. On weekends, as many as 6,000 people per day may visit – more than four-fold the 1,400 visitors envisioned by park planners three decades ago. Because it’s a reserve, not only a park, it is required to have greater protection.

“There’s a finite amount of coastal prairie and tide pools. It can only sustain so much use,” said Brent Marshall, superintendent of California State Parks Monterey District. A test of the reservation system, described in a section of the State Parks’ new general plan, could be started next year.

For the rest of this article, go to: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/10/want-a-day-at-point-lobos-soon-youll-book-online/

 

Hot on the heels of the last bicycle ride is another tomorrow

Apparently, this is different than the CAF Million Dollar Ride that was held this past Saturday and Sunday.  This is called the Ride 2 Recovery.

Today’s Date: Monday, October 15, 2018

District:            05–Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties

Contact:          Jim Shivers or Colin Jones

Phone:             (805) 549-3237 or (805) 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           

RIDE 2 RECOVERY BICYCLE RIDE ON CENTRAL COAST THIS WEEK

CENTRAL COAST – The Ride 2 Recovery Bicycle Ride will move through Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties this week in the following locations:

  • On Monday, Oct. 15, the riders will use State Route 1 from Santa Cruz to Carmel.
  • On Tuesday, Oct. 16, the riders will use State Route 1 from Carmel to San Simeon.
  • On Wednesday, Oct. 17, the riders will use State Route 1 from San Simeon to Pismo Beach.
  • On Thursday, Oct. 18, the riders will use State Route 1, 154 and 246 from Pismo Beach to Solvang.
  • On Friday, Oct. 19, the riders will use State Route 154, 246 and US Highway 101 to travel from Solvang to Ventura County.

This ride will include injured military veterans and first responders who will be escorted by the American Legion and other support vehicles. Everyone should ‘Share the Road’.

Gray Slip, A perspective

There is a historical slide south of Mud Creek that many of you may not have heard of, or may not remember. This is Gray Slip. Madonna dug into this area during the repairs to Mud Creek to obtain dirt (as if there wasn’t enough at Mud Creek?) and transport it back to Mud Creek. Rock Knocker watched from above many times as they would bring a load of dirt from Gray Slip to Mud Creek, and then turn around and do it all over again. He couldn’t figure out why they did that, and to this day does not know why.

Rock Knocker went through some of his old Gray Slip photos, and I found some in an album I put together of a few of the major slides from 1980-1993. I also have an album I made from the El Niño of 1995. I did some online research and found a couple studies from 2001 re the major slides (40 page report I downloaded into iBooks; here is a link I found to the report so that you can download it. http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/Documents/landslides/Caltrans/SR_185/CT001mon%20Report.pdf

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and another one on Erosion and Revegetation Management Report done by CSUMB and Rana Creek Restoration and Paul Kephardt done in Dec. 2000. (http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/home/showdocument?id=37877 ) Both provide some interesting insights into what we may see this winter in this spot and others.

This is a shot of Gray Slip from above taken this summer:

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You can see all the water in the pit Madonna dug here in this photo from July. There are other areas not in this photo that are also showing water coming out, even now, in October, after a very dry summer season.

Earlier this month, Rock Knocker and I were coming back from a town trip south, and I asked if he could stop so I could take some photos. I had noticed quite a bit of water coming out of the hill, and noticed the cracks above where the Madonna team had dug out a pit in the mountain. I wanted to document this. He walked up and took photos on 10/8/18. He hiked up even further on 10/13/18 and took even more photos.

Throughout the coming weeks, I will be posting some of the historical photos I have of this area, some of the photos and data charts from the 2 studies mentioned above, and after I have done that, I will share some of this month’s photos. This project will take me a few weeks to complete.

Highway 1 road work next week

Highway 1 Big Sur South Coast: October 16 – October 19
Daytime paving along Highway 1 will result in traffic control between the San Luis Obispo County Line and Lime Creek Bridge form 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Highway 1 Big Sur: October 15 – October 19
Daytime slide removal along Highway 1 will result in traffic control between Hot Springs Creek Bridge and Burns Creek Bridge form 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Highway 1 Bixby Bridge: October 17 – October 18
Daytime bridge inspection at Bixby Bridge will result in traffic control form 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

And yet ANOTHER bicycle event

Day 1 (Oct 13th) is Monterey to Big Sur and Day 2 (Oct 14th) is Big Sur to Paso Robles:

This weekend, the Challenged Athletes Foundation is presenting a 600-plus mile bike ride along the California coast to raise money for a great cause.

As part of CAF’s 25th anniversary celebration, the 2018 Million Dollar Challenge is the most inclusive ride yet. The 600+ mile cycling event takes place from October 13, 2018 – October 19, 2018 along the California coast. Challenged athletes and supporter cyclists participating in the event’s entirety begin their journey in Monterey and ride for one week to finish in San Diego. Participants help to raise over a million dollars together for CAF’s mission of supporting people with physical challenges, so they can pursue active lifestyles through physical fitness and competitive athletics.

Graffiti in State Parks

For any new graffiti in State Parks ONLY, please feel free to use this email address to send info as to the location and type of graffiti.  Although Garrapata is part of a different sector, I can forward that info on to the appropriate person.  If you’d like, please attach pictures.  We find that extremely helpful.

Many thanks,

Matthew Khalar, Supervising State Park Ranger, Big Sur Sector- Monterey District

Matthew.Khalar@parks.ca.gov