Date:	Friday, February 5, 2021 at 6 pm
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 CLOSURES TO SHORTEN AS INTENSIVE ASSESSMENT EFFORTS CONTINUE AT RAT CREEK

MONTEREY COUNTY – Due to steady progress by crews on both sides of Rat Creek to clear plugged culverts, remove standing water and debris, clear rockfall, and repair roads, the northern and southern limits of the closure on Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast are scheduled to change.

As of 6 pm today, the northern end of the Highway 1 closure on the Big Sur coast will move south from Post Mile 34.1 to PM 32.6 just south of Esalen Institute. This will permit full access to the last businesses on the coast before reaching Rat Creek.

Crews will be working throughout the weekend behind this new closure limit to fortify a turnaround point at Lime Creek at PM 32.1 which is expected to be in operation by early next week. Located one mile above Rat Creek, the Lime Creek turnaround is planned to be the landmark limit for public travel south on Highway 1 while repairs are being made at Rat Creek.

The southern closure on Highway 1 will be moved north at 6 pm next Monday Feb. 8, from its current location at Willow Creek Rd. at PM 11.1 to PM 16.0 just north of Pacific Valley. In approximately two weeks this southern closure is expected to move north up the coast again to the Big Creek Vista Point at PM 27.3 where a turnaround is being constructed.

There is still much repair work to be done on Highway 1 between Rat Creek and Big Creek Vista Point. This stretch of road will continue to be a high priority for crews and contractors. This section of road contains multiple locations of plugged culverts which were overwhelmed by debris flows. Rockfall still needs to be cleared behind the netting at Cow Cliffs, and stabilization and repair of sections of roadway must be accomplished before this section can be opened to the public.

Intensive assessment continues at the Rat Creek site. Surveys by land and air have provided necessary data to describe the topographical conditions now in place after the immense debris flow. Geotechnical and environmental studies also continue. Crews have also begun to edge out into the debris flow basin itself to start to remove woody debris.

Crews are working at the site seven days a week. There is no current estimate of a timeline for when this assessment phase will be completed. Ongoing efforts to continue unplugging culverts and removing debris within the newly reopened segments of Highway 1 will continue with flagging operations. Travelers are advised to use caution and may find short delays.

From the Office of Representative Jimmy Panetta, Katie Moon, assistant:

“2/2/21 Big Sur Roadway Damages Coordinator Meeting: Summary
Congressman Jimmy Panetta, Senator John Laird, Assemblymember Robert Rivas, and Supervisor Mary Adams’ staff met with federal, state, county, and local agencies to discuss the status of storm damage, assessment, and reconstruction of Highway 1 at Rat Creek, Nacimiento- Fergusson Road, and adjacent roadways. Monterey County, US Forest Service, and Fort Hunter- Liggett are working on road clearing and repair on County and Federal roadways including Nacimiento-Fergusson and adjacent roads. Monterey County is doing a damage assessment with an expectation to have more detailed information next week. Caltrans is continuing assessments of Highway 1 and coordinating residential access to their homes in collaboration with CHP and law enforcement agencies to ensure public safety. The legislative offices and agencies are actively working on making sure that Big Sur residents have ongoing information about alternate access routes and supporting residents by coordinating with the appropriate entities to ensure the continuation of essential services like mail delivery and trash pickup.

[Ed. Note: Southside roll outs for trash will be here as soon as payment is arranged for SLO Rollouts. WM is generating the purchase order as I type, so it won’t be long. Many people worked to make this happen. Northside trash will be handled by WM as always.]

We are in the very early stages of assessment and repair, however the reopening of these critical roadways is a priority at all levels of government and we as legislative offices will continue to work with and support agencies to safely restore access to the Big Sur coast.
Meeting Participants: Office of Congressman Panetta, Office of Senator Laird, Office of Assemblymember Rivas, Office of Supervisor Adams, Caltrans, Fort Hunter Liggett, US Forest Service, Monterey County Public Works, Monterey County Sheriff, CHP, Big Sur Fire

Well, I had quite the surprise this morning. 

My routine is that when the sun comes over the hill, I get up, let the dogs out, and pee … In that order. On nice mornings, like this am, I leave the door open so any of the dogs that want to come back in, can.

After I pee, I get back in bed. Sometimes I go back to sleep, but mostly, I don’t. This morning, I heard a dog next to my bed, looked down to see which one it was, and was surprised to see a new face greeting me. Surprise, surprise …

This is the face that greeted me this morning:

“Oh, my. Who are you, Missy?” I didn’t even know whether she was a Missy or a Mister, but that is the first thing that popped out of my mouth when I turned over and saw her at my bedside.

She is very skinny and covered with tics. She is very sweet, comes up to me, whether I am standing or sitting, and immediately sits. I fed her two cups of dry food, which she scarfed. She would have eaten the whole bag, but I don’t want her barfing, so I’ll give her another two cups later this afternoon. We are working on the tics.

She is a border collie. She has a collar, but no tags.She does not bark, and seems to come from a one dog household, as she snarls whenever one of my dogs gets near her. She has very long legs, but probably only weighs 20-25 lbs – not sure as I haven’t tried to pick her up. .

If anyone recognizes this dog, please call me at 831-818-8026. I am sure there is a heartbroken owner somewhere. She immediately took to me – or just so grateful for a place and food out of the wild. Pass the word. I will post this to FB, also, so it can be easily shared. Much as I am taken with this dog, and would easily add her to my pack, I am happy to reunite her with her owner.

After a few weeks with her, I came to think she was purposefully abandoned here in the back country based on her aversion to getting out of the car anywhere but at home. She didn’t make a sound for about six months. She survived out in the wild for a couple of weeks alone, per the vet. Eight years later I cannot imagine my life without this fur baby. She is no longer skinny, in fact, she is a little chunky, her tail wags constantly, and she stole my heart.

Andrew, our Postmaster, asked me to pass on his assurance that during the closure at Rat Creek, he would be having mail delivered Tuesdays and Fridays for the duration for those of us south of Rat Creek. Obviously, it is not carved in stone as there are many factors that could affect this, but that he was doing everything in his power to make sure that happens.

Date:	Monday, February 1, 2021 at 1 pm
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 #3

AFTER PARTIAL LIFTING OF EVACUATION ORDER RESIDENTS NORTH OF RAT CREEK RETURN; THOSE SOUTH STILL SUBJECT TO CLOSURE OF HIGHWAY 1

MONTEREY and SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – Today, Monterey County partially lifted an Evacuation Order that had been in place since January 26, in advance of approaching rainstorms for areas downslope of the Dolan Fire burn scar which were subject to debris flows. At the request of the California Highway Patrol, and in support of this Order, Caltrans had initiated a 44-mile closure of Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast to create safe conditions for evacuations to take place.

During the intense rainstorms, and in an area below the Dolan Fire burn scar, a section of road washed out at Rat Creek, severing Highway 1 and creating a 150-foot chasm in the roadway at Post Mile 30.2.

Although the wash out at Rat Creek was the most apparent and significant devastation, it was not the only location on Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast to suffer damage.

Caltrans and contractor crews working north and south of Rat Creek on Highway 1 continue to clear multiple debris piles, remove slides, remove accumulations of water, clear and repair drainage systems, and stabilize damaged sections of roadway at approximately 60 locations that were impacted by storm damage.

Several of these locations still need to stabilize and dry out before final cleanup and repair work can restore the highway to allow for public use. At Rat Creek engineering alternatives are being analyzed and data is being gathered with no timeline available for complete reopening at this time.

Today, the northern limit of the Highway 1 closure will be relocated to the vicinity of South Coast Center near Post Mile 34.

A traffic control checkpoint at that location will be staffed 24 hours a day allowing only locals to pass and return to assess any damage at their homes. There will be sections of the road between the South Coast Center closure and Rat Creek that will be restricted down to one lane and local motorists are advised to drive with appropriate caution. During daytime hours contractor forces will be working in this area and may cause short delays.

As crews effect repairs and stabilize the roadway over the next several weeks, the northern traffic control checkpoint should continue to move southward until it reaches the approach to Rat Creek.

Damage to Highway 1 south of Rat Creek remains in such condition that it will delay the ability of residents who live south of Rat Creek to return to their homes.

The southern closure, currently at Ragged Pont, will be moved north to Willow Creek Rd. at Post Mile 11.2 today at 6 pm.

In similar fashion as in the north, the southern edge of the closure will continue to move tracking the progress of maintenance and contractor crews as they work north.

While there is no current timeline for the complete reopening of the southern end of the closure, continuous updates will be provided in the days and weeks ahead.

Here are a couple trouble spots on Plaskett:

The road curves up through that wash out spot then curves around to the left when viewed from this photo, so the top of the wash out is depicted in the next photo. If the erosion is not stopped, it could result in partial loss of road in two places.

All the photos below are of Nacimiento-West, as we are now calling it, and were taken by Tom Collins and Colleen Wilson

This week, the thing that brought me the most joy was community. The South Coast, the Wild Coast, has a community unlike any other I’ve ever known. We were hit the hardest down here in the Santa Lucia Mountains, hidden away in the back country, where neighbors live miles apart. Chalk Peak, the primary way off the mountain for many of us was hit with well over 10” in a 24-hour period and at least 15” over 48 hours. Winds howled. Trees fell. Rocks and mudslides covered roads. We don’t have a road crew available. Los Burros, Plaskett, Nacimiento, and South Coast Ridge Road were trashed. We didn’t call anyone, because there is no one to call and no one would or could respond. (County might, eventually) We got to work clearing roads, cutting downed trees, and checking on neighbors.

Two neighbors, Tom Collins and Colleen Wilson are a team that just got busy and got to work Friday, clearing South Coast Ridge Road, What normally takes 1/2 hour or so to drive, took seven hours to get from Alm’s Ridge to Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. This is their story.

Hi All –
Sorry for the tardy reply but we just arrived home after leaving about 10 am. It took us about 7 hrs to reach NF Rd from Alm’s.

• We cut 10 – 12 trees
• Removed rock at Chalk Peak – enough to get by. We took my Outlander but Tom’s 350 would not get thru. Lots of rock slides. Maybe getting some people together we could clear in a few hours. Very icy on the asphalt. Be careful thru this area – there’s about 6-8 ft where the asphalt fell away & the side is very soft. We put a orange cone to mark that area.
• Alm’s & Prewitt are pretty good, road wise.
• Lots of debris, mud & dirt across much of the road north of the asphalt all the way to NF. Some places have deep sludge & ruts but I got thru without a problem. Very rough in some places – Tom calls this Alluvium. We sure could use the Fort to clear for us! Tom is guessing the Fort could clean up everything in a day between NF & Prewitt.

Once we arrived at South Coast & NF Rd – we saw 3 BIG trees across the road leading towards the Naci Station so going to Paso is out unless the county shows up soon. We did not turn west towards Hwy 1.

Bottom line – you can get in the entire way from NF Rd. [to Alm’s Ridge]. There’s still logs that need to be moved but you can get thru.

Cheers –
Colleen & Tom

Tom and Colleen, you are some badass South Coasters. Aren’t you glad you stayed for the winter instead of going sailing in the South Pacific like you often do every winter?

Today, Sunday, a crew of local guys were going to be trying to make their way up Nacimiento to South Coast Ridge Road, cutting downed trees, clearing slides and cleaning drains. However, after Katee’s photos of Naci, that may be abandoned.

After I posted these last two to FB and twitter and my blog, it was suggested I contact Katie Moon, so I sent them to her and she called me. I was able to provide information on where and what so she can share with her boss. I was also able to get ahold of the FHL road crew boss who gave me his cell years ago. He tried to come up today, but was blocked at the FHL/LPNF boundary, but will be trying again on Monday in a different, more versatile vehicle. County will be assessing then, too. Both are part of my community. Thank you both. Today, Mary Adams and Jimmy Panetta are meeting regarding federal assistance. Two more members of my tribe.

Friday, Billy and Ellen were able to cut through downed trees on Los Burros so that at least vehicles could get through, but it still needs a lot of clean-up. Brendon did the same on Plaskett, so he can get in and out, but it isn’t pretty.

This is my community of which I am so proud. I am so honored that they accepted me into it 31 years ago. A reporter asked me on Friday why I lived here with all the fires, slides, road closures and everything. I told him because of community. There isn’t a better one anywhere else. What I didn’t tell him was that I lived here because this is where the Goddess lives and she whispers to me and blesses me every day.

Photos by Katee Armstrong taken today:

Date:	Friday, January 29, 2021 at 6:30 pm
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 #2

SECTION OF HIGHWAY 1 WASHES OUT AT RAT CREEK ON BIG SUR COAST

MONTEREY and SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – A debris flow from the hillside above Rat Creek on Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast overwhelmed drainage infrastructure, flowed across the highway, and eroded the road resulting in the complete loss of a segment of Highway 1 at that location.

Rat Creek is located at PM 30.2 and is two miles south of the Esalen Institute. It is about 1 mile south of the origin of the Dolan Fire in the Dolan Canyon area of Big Sur and is within the burn scar area.

On Thursday Jan. 28, Caltrans crews, working from the north doing a post rainstorm assessment of the roadway, discovered debris flow across the highway at Rat Creek. Before dark on Thursday, the lane on the coast side of the road had washed out.

On Thursday evening, Caltrans entered into a $5 million emergency contract with Papich Construction of San Luis Obispo County to assist with repair of the highway slide out.

On Friday Jan. 29, Caltrans assessment crews and emergency contractors arrived at daybreak to discover that both lanes of the highway had washed out.

At this point the damage assessment team has not issued a report on today’s findings and will continue to work this weekend. The current closure of Highway 1 from Ragged Point to Fuller’s Point just south of Deetjen’s Big Sur in remains in effect.

Businesses on Highway 1 from Carmel to Big Sur and south to the full closure remain open.

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