Highway 1: Road Conditions 6/17-23

                               ROAD AND LANE CLOSURES SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 17 – JUNE 23

 

MONTEREY COUNTY – Here are the major scheduled road and lane closures for Monterey County fromSunday, June 17 through Saturday, June 23 – newest information is in red. Please keep in mind that construction work is weather-dependent.

Highway 1 Storm Repair Along the Big Sur Coast
Due to past slides, State Route 1 is now closed at the Ranger Station North Ragged Point Inn and at Mud Creek.

Highway 1 – Carmel: June 18 – June 21 
Caltrans will perform highway pavement maintenance on State Route 1 south of Carmel Highlands for four days beginning Monday, June 18. Motorists can expect one-way reversing traffic control from8 am until 2 pm in the following locations:

There will be electronic message boards alerting the public of these lane closures and traffic control.  The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be present to ensure a safe environment for everyone.  Motorists can expect delays not to exceed 10 minutes.

Highway 1 Climbing Lane Project: June 18 – June 22
The Climbing Lane project will move into Phase 1B this week with both day and overnight work.

Here is what is happening this week:

Work will include paving Highway 1 between Carmel River Bridge and Carmel Valley Road and the south east corner of Rio Road as well as moving cement barriers to change the traffic flow on Rio Road from the north to south side by Thursday morning

Drivers wishing to avoid the intersection may detour to Carmel Valley Road and Carmel Rancho Boulevard. All business and shopping centers remain open during construction.

Sign up to receive text message alerts by texting Climbinglane to 888777.

Highway 68 – Monterey to Laguna Seca: June 18– June 22
Night time road work along Highway 68 between highway 1 and Laguna Seca from will result in lane closures and delays 7:30 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Highway 68 – Salinas River: June 18 – June 22
There will be alternating lane closures on eastbound and westbound Highway 68 between Spreckles Blvd and Reservation Road for bridge work. The work will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondaythrough Friday.

Highway 101 – Greenfield to Salinas: June 18 – June 22
Daytime vegetation spraying Highway 101 between Espinosa Road in Greenfield and Boronda Road in Salinas from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

FOR ALL UPDATES AS THEY ARE RELEASED, GO TO THE TAMC WEBSITE, HERE:

http://www.tamcmonterey.org/cone-zone-report-12/

Board of Supervisor’s Meeting re STRs 6/19/2018

The Board meeeting starts at 9 am, but STRs are scheduled for 10:30 am. I did not download anything other than the 2 maps re STRS, but if you go to the county website, here Mo Co Main Page and on the bottom is the link to the Board of Supervisors Meetings.

These two maps may be of interest to some of you. If so, I suggest you download them, so that you can enlarge them.

0B16B263-CDDA-489A-81EA-70BB89FCE0FA85EAE1DA-D861-4FC2-8949-75654D3AE52E

Highway One Road Work next weeki

Today’s Date: Thursday, June 14, 2018

District:           05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa     Cruz Counties

Contact:          Susana Z Cruz (bilingual) or Colin Jones

Phone:            (805) 549-3138 or 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CALTRANS TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE PAVIG ON STATE ROUTE 1 SOUTH OF CARMEL HIGHLANDS STARTING MONDAY

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will perform highway pavement maintenance on State Route 1 south of Carmel Highlands for four days beginning Monday, June 18. Motorists can expect one-way reversing traffic control from 8 am until 2 pm in the following locations:

There will be electronic message boards alerting the public of these lane closures and traffic control.  The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be present to ensure a safe environment for everyone.  Motorists can expect delays not to exceed 10 minutes.

This work will be performed by the Caltrans Monterey Maintenance team resulting in a Smooth ride for all travelers.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.

For more information on this project and for traffic updates on other Caltrans projects in

Monterey County, residents can call the District 5 toll free number at 1-831-372-0862 or

Can visit our website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/paffairs/release.htm#mon

Susana Z. Cruz

Caltrans District 5

Public Information Officer

RX Burn at FHL on Weds

FHL Police were stopping people at the intersection of Nacimiento and Mission and not allowing west bound traffic, at least as of 11:30 am, per reports and what we witnessed as we passed by. Many were turn around and forced to go all the way around to get home – that is a long a$$ way!!

We were stopped around 11:30 on the West side of Stoney Valley for this burn out. We were held up for about 20 minutes or so – in the sun – in 96º temps. These are some of the photos I took. I can see why it was closed. The fire was right up to the road and the firefighters were IN the road. We were escorted.

I’ve tried to upload the sequence, but my blog goes into cardiac arrest when I try to upload 18 photos. So here are a couple. More later, I have to convert some “live” shots to regular photos, first.

46DCF85B-F592-4654-874D-94F717EBFE5AA20612C2-E527-4BBD-8302-62A306A8D9EB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Succulent Poachers plead guilty in Humbolt, 6/13/18

California Fish and Wildlife News

 Link to CDFW News
Succulent Plant Poachers Convicted in Humboldt County

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 03:04 PM PDT

Three defendants in a succulent plant poaching case out of Humboldt County have each pled guilty to two felonies and other misdemeanor charges, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office announced. Felony convictions included conspiracy and false filings with the government, and misdemeanor convictions included removal of plant material from public lands and commercial sales of plants removed from public lands.

The succulent plants at the center of the investigation are called Dudleyas. They grow in unique niches close to the coastline, typically on cliffsides immediately adjacent to the water. The poachers had a network of buyers in Korea and China, where Dudleya are valued as a trendy houseplant.

Removal of Dudleya, or any vegetation in sensitive habitat, can result in environmental degradation of habitat and a destabilization of bluffs and cliffs on the coastline. Some Dudleya species are rare or at risk of extinction.

Wildlife officers worked extensively with allied law enforcement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Postal Service inspectors to track down and collect evidence of poaching the succulent plants for sale overseas. During the investigation, wildlife officers witnessed the three removing plants from coastal bluffs in the Humboldt Lagoons State Park. On April 4, officers found the trio in possession of 2,300 Dudleya plants and more than $10,200 in cash.

All three defendants were foreign nationals. Liu Fengxia, 37, of China, and Tae-Hun Kim, 52, and Tae-Hyun Kim, 46, both from Korea, were handed a sentence of three years and eight months in state prison and a $10,000 fine each. Judge John T. Feeney suspended the prison sentences with the conditions that the defendants are prohibited from entering the United States without prior authorization of the federal government and state courts, and prohibited from entering any local, state or national park.

In addition to the fines, the defendants will also forfeit the $10,200 to CDFW as restitution. These funds will be used specifically for the conservation of Dudleya on public lands in Humboldt County.

“Together with prosecuting Deputy District Attorney Adrian Kamada and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, we hope this conviction and sentencing will send a message to those who may consider poaching California’s precious natural resources to sell overseas for personal profit,” said David Bess, CDFW Deputy Director and Chief of Law Enforcement.

The case developed from a tip from a member of the public who saw something amiss. Anyone who believes they are witness to unlawful poaching or pollution activity is encouraged to call CalTIP, CDFW’s confidential secret witness program, at (888) 334-2258 or send a text with the tip411 app. Both methods allow the public to provide wildlife officers with factual information to assist with investigations. Callers may remain anonymous, if desired, and a reward can result from successful capture and prosecution.

###

Beaver Fire, San Benito Co, 6/12/18

UPDATE 8:00 pm from Cal Fire BEU:

“Update #BeaverFire as of 7:50pm 6/12/18 the fire is being held at 250 Acres and 25% containment No structures lost or threatened. Crews continue to make positive gains.”

UPDATE 5:10 – Beaver fire up to 200 acres.

UPDATE 4:20 pm – fire is now 150 acres.

East of Lockwood: @CAL_FIRE at scene 20-acre fire Coalinga Rd, Bitterwater (San Benito Co) #BeaverFire. There is a Cal Fire Station there. SLO has sent a dozer, and T74 and T75 are flying out of Paso Robles. These hills are extremely dry. Lots of grass.

Mud Creek to open end of July

Much anticipated announcement, and good news, for a change.

*UPDATE*

Caltrans Continues Efforts to Rebuild and Reopen Highway 1

at Mud Creek

New Estimated Opening Slated for end of July

BIG SUR, MONTEREY COUNTY – As Caltrans continues efforts to rebuild and re-open Highway 1 at Mud Creek, the department has announced a new target date of the end of July for opening the route to all travelers.

Department officials announced last August that a new ¼-mile roadway will traverse the site of the massive Mud Creek landslide.

The new roadway will be realigned across the landslide and will be buttressed with a series of embankments, berms, rocks, netting, culverts and other stabilizing material according to department engineers and geologists. This strategy is allowing Caltrans to rebuild the roadway more quickly and at a lower cost than other alternatives such as structures, a tunnel or major earthwork that puts additional fill into the ocean.

“Rebuilding Highway 1 and restoring traffic along the Big Sur coast has been our priority and by opening the highway sooner than expected, it will boost the many central coast communities affected by this major landslide,” said Caltrans Acting District 5 Director Richard Rosales.

The massive slide occurred on May 20, 2017, dumping more than 6 million cubic yards of material onto the roadway and into the ocean, creating 15 additional acres of coastline, making it the largest one ever along the Big Sur coast.

Caltrans engineers have been working closely with contractor John Madonna to increase rebuild productivity, so this combined with favorable weather and longer days will allow us to open the road sooner than our previous mid-September estimate.

Caltrans is continuously evaluating the opening date as roadwork progresses so we anticipate providing a final update by early July. It’s expected that after the highway opens, intermittent weekday lane closures and roadwork will continue for several months to finalize repairs.

–Photos below—

AF286E52-ADED-4517-8C49-4563347B28A0

June 1, 2017

F955DB2B-42EB-42D1-8CAA-F9B5E77655F3

June 3, 2018

Tourist Tuesday, 6/12/18

I am taking today off, so that I can seek balance, get grounded, enjoy this beautiful place I am blessed to live in, and search for my objectivity, which seems to have departed. I will still be checking on things, so make sure a fire doesn’t start, but otherwise, I will be doing things that bring me joy. Look for the joy in your life today, too. Embrace it.

Mary Adams’s response to today’s traffic SNAFU

Thank you, Mary, for listening to your constituents.

”We are trying to get to the bottom of today’s horrendous traffic situation on State Route 1 south of Carmel. A car accident, shoulder clean up work at the Carmel River Bridge causing drivers to slow and look, increased summer southbound traffic, the Big Little Lies movie trailers at Marathon Flats, and the additional Caltrans work and lane closure at Monastery Beach all contributed to the already impacted construction zone.

In response to today, CalTrans will not be doing any additional work at Monastery this week as had been originally scheduled. They will continue to perform highway pavement maintenance at Otter Cove tomorrow and at Soberanes on Thursday. If you are south of either of these two locations, we recommend getting through these areas before 8 am.

Additionally, there will be filming at Monastery Beach this Thursday, June 14. Caltrans, the permitting agency, has told us the project is not expected to impact traffic flow and will take place on the beach. Parking will be at the meadow adjacent to the Bay School and seven spaces to the north end of the beach.

Our office is continuing to seek ways to expedite the Climbing Lane Construction project. We are urging the county to invest in night work and extended shifts. Please continue to reach out to us with questions. We share your concerns and are working diligently to reduce the impacts of this work. Our office can be reached at 831-647-7755 or by email at district5@co.monterey.ca.us.

Together, we will get through this!”

And yet ANOTHER traffic issue this week…filming.

I have written to the Cal Trans permit coordinator, and let him know that this was absolutely nuts due to the CT work schedule this week. I even went so far as to ask if he had even READ the schedule? I remember being told NO permits would be issued between Memorial Day and Labor Day for any filming. Here it is – please don’t shoot the messenger, but I will include an email for the guy who approved this below, so that any of you can write him.

THURSDAY, 6/14/18

Possible Worlds LLC will be filming for 1/2 day at Carmel River Monastery Beach.

Posted parking will be in place along Hwy. 1 from 6 AM to 3 PM for a handful of working vehicles.

Additional vehicles will park off-site north of the beach, in the State Parks meadow just past the now-closed Bay School.

Filming activities will not impact the roadway but CHP will be present to assist in safety and assure smooth traffic flow.

Filming should be concluded by 12 Noon.

At that time, most vehicles will move to the Grimes Ranch property at Palo Colorado.

3 large trucks will park in a pullout on the west side of Highway 1.

This pullout is located 1,000 feet south of Hwy 1 and Palo Colorado Road.

This parking will not impact any sight lines for resident vehicles entering or exiting Palo Colorado Road.

This parking will be in place from 6 AM to 9 PM each day, Thurs. 6/14 thru Sat. 6/16/18.

Remaining work vehicles will park well off the highway, on Grimes Ranch property on the east side of Hwy 1.

From 11 AM to 8 PM, 9 vehicles will park in reserved spaces near the entrance to Garrapata Beach.

They will be positioned at the very north end of the large pullout on the west side of Hwy 1.

Filming likely will conclude in the late afternoon.

Once finished, the company will consolidate at Grimes Ranch and work there.

FRIDAY 6/15

In the morning from 6 AM to 3 PM, 9 vehicles will park in reserved spaces in a pullout at Garrapata Bluffs, located at mile marker 66.5.

Once this has concluded, the company will consolidate at Grimes Ranch and work there.

SATURDAY 6/16

All filming will take place on Grimes Ranch property.

Bryan Parker:

bryan.parker@dot.ca.gov