Date:	Friday, August 16, 2024
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Genelle Padilla
Phone:	(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ROCK SLOPE PROTECTION PROJECT ON HIGHWAY 1 NEAR FERNWOOD

TO BEGIN MONDAY AUGUST 19 WITH TRAFFIC CONTROL

MONTEREY COUNTY – A rock slope protection project below Highway 1 near the community of Fernwood is scheduled to begin Monday August 19.

Crews will armor the bank of the river with four to six ton rocks which will make the slope capable of withstanding the erosive forces of the Big Sur River and protect the integrity of the roadway above.

Starting on Monday August 19, one-way traffic control, directed by flagging crews, will be in effect seven days a week, from 7 am to 6 pm. The location of the project is on Highway 1 at Post Mile 47.8 and approximately .75 miles north of the community of Fernwood.

During previous winter storms, several concrete blocks which previously armored the highway were loosened by rains and high-water flows in the Big Sur River.

This project is scheduled to be complete at the end of October 2024.

The contractor for this $7.5 million project is Graniterock Construction of Watsonville, CA.

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.

Date:	Thursday, August 15, 2024
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Genelle Padilla
Phone:	(805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UPDATE #5

FULL OVERNIGHT CLOSURES ON HIGHWAY 1 AT ROCKY CREEK

RETURN FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 18

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will continue with emergency repairs to Highway 1 near the Rocky Creek Bridge, 12 miles south of Carmel. Caltrans previously stabilized and reinforced Highway 1 at this location after a March 30slipout resulted in a loss of a section of the southbound lane.

Upcoming Repair Schedule Update

For the week of Sunday August 18, travelers will encounter a full overnight closure of Highway 1 at Rocky Creek for five nights, from Sunday August 18 through Thursday August 22, from 10 pm to 6 am.

For the week of Sunday August 25, no overnight closures are scheduled. Further updates will be provided if there are changes to this schedule.

Daytime repair work will take place in the Rocky Creek project area behind concrete barriers known as K-rail and should not result in any significant travel delays. Daytime travelers will continue to enjoy access through the repair site driving on the northbound lane and directed by a temporary signal system. All Big Sur businesses and amenities are open. 

Customary Overnight Repair Schedule

Overnight work will customarily take place five nights a week, Sunday through Thursday night, and scheduled from 10 pm to 6 am. No overnight work will take place on Friday or Saturday nights.

The estimate for completion of the Rocky Creek viaduct is summer 2025 and is dependent on conditions encountered during construction. The contractor for this project is Gordon N. Ball, Inc. of Alamo, CA.

Highway 1 remains closed 40 miles south of Carmel due to the Regent’s Slide.

Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: X/Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.

Bicyclists who believe they are not subject to the laws of gravity are becoming a serious problem at the Regent’s Slide.  Here is a link to the video of the slide, taken about 3 weeks ago that I posted back then, just to remind people of what it is like. The incident described below happened this past Friday and was sent to me this morning, Monday. Please, PLEASE, do not attempt this maneuver. You will put not only your life in danger, but that of our first responders, too.

What a friend who witnessed the incident sent me the following account:

Biker was told repeatedly he couldn’t get through. Biker said he was going anyway. Not belligerent, more apathetic to the warning. Closure attendant followed up and observed the biker had ridden up to the slide and apparently proceeded across it. He had called LE and State Parks when biker carried on. SP arrived and observed backpack and the arm of the biker in the boulders at the ocean edge 150’ below the highway level at the bottom of the slide slope. SP initiated a rescue response, walking along beach from Big Creek south to the patient. Meanwhile, biker became mobile and proceeded along the beach with his bike southbound along the beach, past vista point and beyond. Big Sur Fire climbed down to join SP. Both caught up to biker half mile down the beach who had ditched bike and was attempting to climb the cliff. They convinced him to come back with them for treatment. Patient seemed confused, had lacerations on arm and complained of head injury. Spoke of falling on the slide, hitting his head and having a rock roll over his arm Patient was walked back to rescue rope on north side of regents and recovered. Driven in ambulance to Post Ranch and airlifted to hospital in cervical collar. 
CHP Oscar cited him for several infractions. 

As I write this Danny called me saying there’s another biker approaching the slide to attempt it!

Date:	Friday, August 9, 2024
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 #4

REDUCED DELAY TIMES FOR OVERNIGHT REPAIR WORK ON HIGHWAY 1

AT ROCKY CREEK FOR WEEK OF AUGUST 11

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will continue with emergency repairs to Highway 1 near the Rocky Creek Bridge, 12 miles south of Carmel. Caltrans previously stabilized and reinforced Highway 1 at this location after a March 30 slipout resulted in a loss of a section of the southbound lane.

Upcoming Repair Schedule Update

For the week of Sunday August 11, for four consecutive nights, starting Sunday August 11 through Wednesday August 14, travelers will encounter overnight delays between 10 pm and 6 am of up to a maximum of 20 minutes. Once the last overnight shift for the week ends on Thursday August 15 at 6 am, there will be no overnight work until Sunday August 18, at 10 pm.

Daytime repair work will take place in the Rocky Creek project area behind concrete barriers known as K-rail and should not result in any significant travel delays. Daytime travelers will continue to enjoy access through the repair site driving on the northbound lane and directed by a temporary signal system. All Big Sur businesses are open. 

For the week of Sunday August 18, travelers will encounter a full overnight closure of Highway 1 at Rocky Creek for five nights, from Sunday August 18 through Thursday August 22, from 10 pm to 6 am. Further updates will be provided if there is a change to this schedule.

Customary Overnight Repair Schedule

Overnight work will customarily take place five nights a week, Sunday through Thursday night, and scheduled from 10 pm to 6 am. No overnight work will take place on Friday or Saturday nights.

The estimate for completion of the Rocky Creek viaduct is summer 2025 and is dependent on conditions encountered during construction. The contractor for this project is Gordon N. Ball, Inc. of Alamo, CA.

Highway 1 remains closed 40 miles south of Carmel due to the Regent’s Slide which is expected to be cleared by late fall of this year.

There are now more ways for locals and visitors to stay up to date on Car Week traffic, events and safety information.
The County of Monterey’s app, uConnect, has been updated to
include one tap access to the Daily Event Tracker map, which
offers event information by day plus real-time traffic details. Easy
access to the county road information page is also available. Check
out a sample of the updated app landing page. ( I put in uConnect in my App Store on my iPad and one of the choices was Monterey County uConnect and this is MY launch page)

County of Monterey uConnect is a one-stop solution for county
residents for a variety of needs including reporting road problems,
view or paying property tax bills, searching for county jobs and
programs, to name a few.
If you don’t already have the app, download it now for Car Week
and use it year-round for other County services and information.
Monterey County uConnect is free and available at the Apple Store
or Google Play.
More about the app and links to download are at
https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-i-
z/information-technology/uconnect
In addition to the app, here are other ways to get important Car
Week information:

• The Car Week 2024 Daily Event and Traffic page can be found at http://www.MCCarWeek.com
• To receive text alerts/notifications related to Car Week safety issues: Text “CARWEEK” to
  65513.
• See Monterey’s Car Week Event information page offers event and travel information:
  https://www.seemonterey.com/events/sporting/concours/.

7/31/24 Fire Camp in Red Bluff for the Park Fire – Engines heading out and returning from the fireline. The help pouring in is amazing! Wish I could capture each one. By Maureen Bonessa, a fellow reporter on WatchDuty.org

PINE RIDGE TRAILHEAD AT BIG SUR STATION

Volunteers with the Ventana Wilderness Alliance (VWA) greet backpackers at the Pine Ridge Trailhead adjacent to the Big Sur Station parking lot.  The Trailhead Ambassador Program (TAP) is in place to make visitors feel welcome to the wilderness and answer questions but also to educate them on fire safety and Leave No Trace Practices without lecturing.  This program is a partnership with the VWA and USFS.

VWA is currently looking for volunteers that would like to participate in the program.  Volunteers would pick up supplies at Big Sur Station and set up at the trailhead.  Best days would be Saturday mornings, but other days could work.  Hours can vary, but preferably between 9AM and 1or 2 PM.  You would work alongside of a volunteer Wilderness Ranger until comfortable working alone or together with another volunteer.

If interested, please contact David Wachtel at deateadub@yahoo.com or VWA at vwa@ventanawild.org

After seeing the article in the Pine Cone on Thursday saying Nacimiento would open in Sept, in light of the most recent forest order of closure we all received indicating closure until July 2025 (see https://bigsurkate.blog/2024/07/19/new-forest-closure-order-until-july-2025/, I contacted Chris Counts of the Pine Cone. Based on what he said, I then contacted Andrew Marsden and Fin. Andrew is on vacation, but Fin got back to me and let me know that the date in the order was just a date far enough out so it would cover all contingencies, but that yes, the goal was to get all road systems in our portion of the LPNF open sometime in September, after Labor Day, but date TBD. Once the determination is made as to when exactly the forest and roads will be safe to open to the public, I will post that information here.

Ralph’s Birthday bouquet from Gail Dinsmore