| Date: | Friday, December 8, 2023 |
| 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
UPDATE #52
ESTIMATED REOPENING OF HIGHWAY 1 AT PAUL’S SLIDE
SET FOR LATE SPRING 2024
MONTEREY/SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – Caltrans today announced an estimated date for a full reopening of Highway 1 at Paul’s Slide of late spring 2024.
This estimated reopening is based on multiple months of work still needed to complete repairs at the site. Tasks that still remain include:
· The continued grading and contouring of the face of the slide to enhance stability of the slope.
· Continued delivery of fill material to the south end of the repair to support the new alignment of the road which will be elevated as much as 60 feet and slightly inland from its previous course. This new alignment also provides for an expanded catchment area on the inland side intended to keep future slide materials away from the roadway.
· Installation of a series of new culverts to convey water and debris under the roadway.
· Final surveys and paving of the road.
· Installation of protective rockfall barriers on the northbound side and guardrail in the southbound direction.
While Caltrans has confidence in the duration of the work necessary to complete the repairs, there is less certainty about how winter rains will affect this timetable.
Depending on the intensity and duration of a rain event, a single day of rain may delay production for multiple days. Production may be stopped to prepare the site in advance of forecasted rain. Once the rain event is over, resumption of production may be delayed due to saturation of the ground, or any damage caused by slide activity brought on by the rain.
Highway 1 remains closed to vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic for 1.5 miles, between Limekiln State Park to the south, and .6 miles south of the town of Lucia to the north.
Crews will continue to work seven days a week toward reopening of a road which the public can travel upon safely by late spring next year. Crews will continue to work in a manner which prioritize the safe working conditions of construction and maintenance crews.
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.
Assuming a mild winter, of course…
Hopefully. But some of the best meteorologists are predicting an extremely wet incoming winter, maybe even moreso than last. But optimism can be good, even in the face of all odds, as Henry Miller often advised…
Thank you for the comic relief, Kate & CalTrans Jeffe!
I know, right?
Do I still see sharp differences in formational materials, all of which appear to be fractured? How do I find out what the assessment turned up and how the plan relates to it?
It appears that, in some places, there are finite repositories for loosened material.
Is there any problem with cutting away the toe of a steep slope? Is the project designed such that any future failures will end up below the pavement rather than on it?
What does Paul have to say about his slide?