| Date: | Thursday, March 18, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. |
| District: | 05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties |
| Contact: | Kevin Drabinski or Alexa Bertola |
| Phone: | (805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UPDATE #33
CLOSURES REMAIN IN EFFECT ON HIGHWAY 1 WITH PROGRESS MADE ON MONTEREY COUNTY SLIDE AT PM 39.5
MONTEREY / SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast remains closed between Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County and Deetjen’s Inn in Monterey County at PM 42.2, due to slides and washouts from ongoing winter storm events.
Crews continue to work at a slide which has covered the roadway at PM 39.5 in Monterey County, south of the Torre Canyon Bridge.
Crews believe that by the afternoon of Sunday March 19, a lane may be opened for residents and visitors currently trapped south of the closure to evacuate. An announcement of the timing of this opening will be made on social media.
This opening on Sunday afternoon is intended to facilitate evacuation of residents and guests. It is not intended for the general public to travel in and out of this slide area.
An update will be provided when more information becomes available on the full reopening of Highway 1 at this location.
Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.
This is the slide at MM 39.5 north of Partington
Why does the post say “Thursday, March 18th”? Today is Saturday, March 18.
I’m curious since there is no information about returning. Will the people on Partington be able to return home once they leave to go grocery shopping or to the doctors or to get their mail or are they too going to end up like the poor people on the south coast that went out for the day only to return to a hard closure with no advance warning?
I’m remembering the old days when CT would open difficult spots up, if passable, at set times during the day to allow us to come and go and have a life. There must be something about the instant information era that makes agencies and contractors afraid to say anything. Easier to just invoke something about “ public safety”. I think the hundreds of years of collective experience of south coasters should allow us to define our own safety.
HARD TIMES… wishing luck and success at evacuating and betting to safe and warm
Yeah, I remember that! I remember back even further when Caltrans used to be called the California Division of Highways. Back then they used to just shut the southbound lane across from the old state yard with a chain link gate with a sign that said Road Closed. Tourist would turn around and go back while the locals that lived past that point went around the gate and continued home … but now everyone is sue happy, especially the insurance companies!