Month: December 2021

Mud/Rock Slides

Sound like three between MM 47, 37, and 32, and one by Big Creek that caused an accident, as well as an accident caused by the road near Lucia.

Near Big Creek, Photo by James McFarland

From McFarland:

‘This is around 3pm, just north of Big Creek. Driver hit a rock.

A Tesla, a little further south was waylaid at the passing lane due to hitting a rock.

CHP officer on duty was housing all the occupants, waiting on a tow.

More traffic on the road today than I imagined there would be, given the weather. Several small slides between Lucia and Anderson Canyon, with one slide spewing a couple of dozen 18” boulders across both lanes.

Caltrans was on the job with at least to trucks and a loader, and made quick work of the slide blocking the road.

Happy Christmas’

Incident: 00151 Type: Traffic Hazard Location: SR1 / FERNWOOD Loc Desc: NB and SB 1MI JNO Lat/Lon: 36.260131 -121.790353 

Detail Information
2:38 PM6[15] [Notification] [CHP]-CALTRANS — ETA APPX 30 MINS 
2:29 PM5[10] NB and SB LNS WERE TAKING TURNS DRIVING THROUGH
2:28 PM4[8] ROCKS DIDNT FALL ON ANY VEHS
2:28 PM3[7] RP STATING THEY CLRD THE RDWY BUT ROCKS ARE STILL FALLING 1/4 OF NB LN 1125
2:27 PM2[6] RP MOVED ROCKS FROM THE RDWY
2:27 PM1[5] BOTH LNS STOPPED

Incident: 00151 Type: Traffic Hazard Location: SR1 / FERNWOOD Loc Desc: NB and SB 1MI JNO Lat/Lon: 36.260131 -121.790353 

Detail Information
2:38 PM6[15] [Notification] [CHP]-CALTRANS — ETA APPX 30 MINS 
2:29 PM5[10] NB and SB LNS WERE TAKING TURNS DRIVING THROUGH
2:28 PM4[8] ROCKS DIDNT FALL ON ANY VEHS
2:28 PM3[7] RP STATING THEY CLRD THE RDWY BUT ROCKS ARE STILL FALLING 1/4 OF NB LN 1125
2:27 PM2[6] RP MOVED ROCKS FROM THE RDWY
2:27 PM1[5] BOTH LNS STOPPED

Incident: 00162 Type: Traffic Hazard Location: 3750 Mm1 N Mon 37.50 Loc Desc: SR1 NB MM 37.5 Lat/Lon: 36.173285 -121.691645 

Detail Information
3:27 PM4[6] 1039 HEATH JOHNSTON // ADV CTC WILLOW SPRINGS STATION THEY WILL TAKE CARE OF IT // WILLOW SPRING STATION WAS ENRT TO MM 47
3:12 PM3[4] 14 CAL TRANS JUST PASSED HIS 1020 THEY WILL RUN INTO IT
3:05 PM2[2] 1125 OF NB SR1
3:05 PM1[1] 1125 MUD SLIDE — PER BIG SUR FIRE UNIT

Incident: 00165 Type: Mud/Dirt/Rock Location: 3240 Mm1 N Mon 32.40 Loc Desc: 1/4 JSO 1 MM 32*4 Lat/Lon: 36.121634 -121.632093 

Detail Information
3:19 PM2[9] 14 CAL TRANS WAS ENRT TO OTHER SIDE WILL POSS HANDLE THIS ONE
3:14 PM1[3] RP IS CALLING F/THE FRONT GATE AT ESALEN, HEARD ONLY

Monterey County Roads closed

This ONLY applies to county roads, not state or other non-county roads (from this morning’s chp website):

Incident: 00055 Type: CLOSURE of a Road Location: MONTEREY COUNTY Loc Desc:   Lat/Lon: 36.673409 -121.640636 

Detail Information
7:14 AM9[11] ^FOR INFORMATION ON MONTEREY COUNTY ROAD CLOSURES
7:14 AM8[10] ^WWW.CO.MONTEREY.CA.US
7:12 AM7[9] ^TASSAJARA RD CLOSED AT LOS PADRES NATL FOREST
7:12 AM6[8] ^SAN JUAN RD FROM ALLISON TO TO SAN MIGUEL CANYON
7:12 AM5[7] ^PALO COLORADO AT SR1
7:12 AM4[6] ^ NACIMIENTO FERGUSSON RD FROM SR1 TO FORT HUNTER LIGGETT
7:11 AM3[5] ^ COAST RD AT SR1
7:11 AM2[4] ^HARTNELL RD CLOSED FROM ALISAL TO 101
7:11 AM1[3] ^ALISAL RD CLOSED AT HARTNELL RD

Highway 101 in SLO closed in both directions due to flooding

US Highway 101 is closed in San Luis Obispo. The southbound lanes are closed at Santa Rosa Street, the northbound lanes are closed at Osos Street due to rain related flooding. An estimate for re-opening is unknown. Traffic is heavy on US 101 in the downtown area.
@PIOJimShivers

Both lanes of Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo were closed Thursday afternoon after more than a foot of rain was reported in the roadway. Caltrans closed the north and southbound lanes near Santa Rosa Street just before 1 p.m., according to the agency.

Incident: 00129 Type: SIG Alert Location: Us101 N / Us101 N Sr1 Ofr Loc Desc: NB and SB 101 AT SANTA ROSA ST SLO Lat/Lon: 35.286891 -120.663125 

Detail Information
1:28 PM2[2] ISSUE SIGALERT
1:25 PM1[1] SB 101 AND NB 101 CLOSED AT SANTA ROSA IN SAN LUIS OBISPO
Unit Information

Highway One reopens

I am listening to a downpour, posting of the reopening, and thinking I’ll be doing a lot of this this next week, if the weather and Mother Nature do not slam shut the highway before then.

Date:Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 9:15 am
District:05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:Kevin Drabinski or Jim Shivers
Phone:(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 ON THE BIG SUR COAST REOPENS

AFTER ROCKFALL AND DEBRIS REMOVAL

MONTEREY / SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast has reopened after the removal of rockfall and debris associated with an ongoing rain event.

Highway 1 was closed from Wed. Dec. 22 at 9 pm until Thursday Dec. 23 at 9:15 am between Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County and Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Monterey County (44.6 miles) while emergency rockfall and debris removal took place.

Travelers are reminded give themselves extra time when driving this winter, taking into account weather conditions, especially when traveling on this scenic byway.

For traffic updates on other state highways in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5

Highway One closed

Official Cal Trans Notice:

Date:Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 7:35 am
District:05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:Kevin Drabinski or Jim Shivers
Phone:(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 ON THE BIG SUR COAST CLOSED DUE TO DEBRIS IN ROADWAY

MONTEREY / SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – Rockfall and debris in the roadway associated with an ongoing rain event has resulted in the closure of Highway 1 on the Big Sur Coast between Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County and Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Monterey County (44.6 miles) while emergency rockfall and debris removal take place. The closure went into effect Wednesday Dec. 22 at about 9 pm.

There is currently no estimated time for reopening as maintenance teams continue to assess the closure area during daylight hours.

Assessments of the closure area of Highway 1 will continue to take place during daylight hours and when safe to do so prior to any modification of the closure parameters. Decisions on modifying the closure parameters will be by these field assessments.

This closure of Highway 1 extends from Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County to Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Monterey County. 

Ragged Point is located 1.45 miles south of the SLO/Monterey County line:

https://goo.gl/maps/3TwYXL6sS1dRbPZi8

Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn is located in Monterey County at Post Mile 42.1:

https://goo.gl/maps/bup3meiu6iKeNqkJ8

Barricades, cones, as well as message and directional signs will be in place at both ends of the closure to alert motorists traveling in the area. 

For traffic updates on other state highways in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5

Incident: 00003 Type: CLOSURE of a Road Location: 4200 Mm1 N Mon 42.00 Loc Desc: SR1 BTWN MM 42 AND RAGGED POINT Lat/Lon: 36.208449 -121.736787 

Detail Information
12:33 AM3[3] 1039 MTRY COM
12:14 AM2[2] MUDSLIDES AND ROCKS/BOULDERS IN RDWY
12:10 AM1[1] RDWY CLOSED BTWN MM 42 IN MONTEREY COUNTY AND RAGGED POINT IN SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY

The highway is closed between Ragged Point and Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Monterey County “due to rockfall and adverse weather conditions.” According to the National Weather Service, the Big Sur area has received more than 2 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, as of 9 p.m. Mining Ridge, received almost 5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours as of 5 am. Caltrans said field staff will assess the location in the daylight Thursday morning and evaluate when it might reopen the road.

Rainy Week

We can expect six days of rain starting last night/this morning. Per the SF Chronicle:

“The Big Sur coastline could get twice as much rain as previously forecast for the ongoing storm system expected to last through the holiday weekend, according to a revised estimate issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service.

While much of the Bay Area is expected to receive a total of 1.5-3 inches during the storm, the coastline from Big Sur in Monterey County and south to the county line could see 6-8 inches.”

Observed rain as of 8 am:

Federal Status of the Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd.

From Jimmy Panetta’s Office

 Congressman Panetta met with Mr. Chris Stubbs, Acting Forest Supervisor for Los Padres National Forest, and Mr. Tyrone Kelley, Regional Engineer, to discuss the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road repair project. During the call, the Congressman stressed the importance of the project to his constituents and urged the USFS to act quickly on these repairs. He noted that the Fall 2023 completion date just does not work for the urgent nature of the project. The FS staff stated they understand the urgency and are also hearing from constituents on a regular basis, urging them to push along the project. They said they are regularly working with all interested parties to speed up the timeline and make critical repairs. The next steps of the project involve working to complete the NEPA process with FHWA and completing a design proposal. Then, they will work to get all necessary state-level permits. Congressman Panetta committed to holding FHWA and the USFS accountable for progress on the project and offered his support in moving it along in anyway way that he can.

Back here at home, repairs had completed the east side and the first mile or two of the east side, last I heard, before the big storms. Just to be clear, these repairs are simply to prevent losing the road all together, they are not to fascillitate public use, only emergency use.

Winter Solstice

It is my favorite day of the year, as it signals the end of the solar year, and the beginning of the new one. It signals the return of the sun as each day hereafter gets longer — more sunlight, until the Summer Solstice in June. And for a house run on solar, I will be especially glad to welcome longer days!