Posted by Butch Kronlund, CPOA
Important Road Closure Notice
The USFS is implementing a hard closure of Sycamore Canyon Road tomorrow, 12-27-13 beginning at 8 AM.
Residents are urged to be off the Road by 8 AM or use alternate routes, if available. Tourist traffic will be denied access while locals can expect 1/2 hour delays. This closure will be in effect until at least 12 noon and may last longer depending on progress in chipping and brush clearing operations.
Today’s Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 3:15 pm
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
** UPDATE #26 **
HIGHWAY 1/ROCKY CREEK VIADUCT PROJECT CONTINUES WITH DAYTIME ROADWORK AND INTERMITTENT OVERNIGHT CLOSURES
Daytime roadwork on Highway 1 at Rocky Creek continues next week from 7 am to 5 pm Monday, April 15 through Friday, April 19.
Night work will be as follows:
Tuesday, April 16 from 7 pm to 9 pm—temporary closures with up to 10-minute delays;
Night work being done consists of pouring concrete on the bridge deck off the highway.
Overnight work will be as follows:
Tuesday, April 16 from 9 pm to 7 am (Wednesday)–full closure in place;
Wednesday, April 17 from 11 pm to 7 am (Thursday)—full closure in place;
Overnight work being done consists of pouring concrete on the bridge deck on the highway and requires a full closure of the work zone. An update will be provided should the closure schedule change.
NOTE: No overnight closures Sunday, April 14, Monday, April 15, or Thursday, April 18.
Noon – From Cal-Trans:
Cal-Trans official press release says there is no anticipated date of re-opening of the road.
9:30 am – semi-official report: there is no equipment buried under the slide, none of the rock shed is affected, the slide didn’t take out the light, only the wires going to the light, and it is expected that the road will be open in 3-4 days, but still waiting for the geologist’s analysis.
8:30 am – reported by local in comment section below: “Just went for a look, was told by the flagger that the slide has buried part of the rock shed, with much of their equipment, and will probably be closed for at least a couple of days. Also unofficial, but that was at 8:20 this morning.” If all that equipment is buried, it will be more than a couple days!
7:30 am – Per one of my “unofficial” but very reliable sources, the slide occurred just south of the new Rock Shed at Rain Rocks, and took out the light on the southern end of the construction. I have no word from Cal-Trans “official” sources, yet, about how long the closure will last. I suspect I will not get any official word until mid-day or later, as the resident geologist will have to evaluate the situation, then get the word to the PR guys/gals. Will update as soon as I have additional information. BTW, the CHP website no longer shows this closure, but that does not mean it is open.
Spoke with Charlie Hench, Cal-Trans Engineer, this morning regarding the impact of the weather on the predicted night closure of Highway One between Ragged Point and the county line. He said, “Just because it rains, doesn’t mean the drilling won’t go on. It’s a safety issue.” He explained that each day the call would be made about whether to drill that night, and Charlie will then make the calls to notify people, including this reporter. This is a tough one for Cal-Trans, and for the traveling public. The work needs to be done to save the road, and cannot be done without closing the road from 8 pm until 5 am for four nights. The “official” news release for this came in today and is posted on the Cal-Trans page.
On the weather front this from the NOAA discussion:
“THE LATEST NAM12 AND GFS MODELS ARE INDC A SHIFT IN THE FCST THINKING FOR SUN THROUGH MON. WILL WAIT TIL THE 12Z ECMWF…WHICH WAS TRENDING COLDER TOO BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES. HOWEVER…IT IS LOOKING LIKE IT COULD BE COLD AND SHOWERY SUN NIGHT/MON MRNG WITH LOW SNOW LEVELS. IF IT CLEARS OUT MON NIGHT THERE COULD BE A FREEZE.”
So, I will update this again tonight, as bigsurkate is now on weather watch for the next week.
Important Information! I have confirmed with Cal-Trans that Highway One will be closed Sunday night, 12/6 from 8 pm until 5 am and every night through Thursday, 12/10, between Ragged Point and the County line. Delay is possible due to the expected storms. This is to facilitate drilling possibly for tiebacks? THIS IS A HARD CLOSURE. NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED THROUGH.
Given the forecast, delay seems likely: “WILL WAIT TO
THE 12Z ECMWF COMES IN BUT AM LEANING TOWARDS BUMPING UP POPS [probability of precipitation] FOR SUNDAY A BIT.
NOAA has issued this special weather statement as of this morning. Could be trouble next week for the contract above, and for all of us for the coming week!
…WET AND WINDY WEATHER PATTERN DEVELOPING NEXT WEEK WITH A SERIES OF SIGNIFICANT STORMS EXPECTED TO HIT THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST…
A VERY WET AND WINDY WEATHER PATTERN IS SETTING UP NEXT WEEK BEGINNING LATE SUNDAY NIGHT AND LASTING INTO THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK. A SERIES OF STORMS WILL SET UP OVER THE PACIFIC AND PUSH INTO CALIFORNIA THROUGHOUT THE WEEK.
THE RESULT OF THESE STORMS WILL BE STRONG WINDS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL…ALONG WITH LARGE WAVES NEAR THE COAST AND HEAVY SNOW ACCUMULATION FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS FROM THESE STORMS INCLUDE:
* URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING ALONG WITH POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOWS.
* HIGH WINDS THAT CAN DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES PRODUCING POWER OUTAGES.
* HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS DUE TO VERY SLIPPERY ROAD CONDITIONS.
* DANGEROUS NEAR SHORE CONDITIONS DUE TO HIGH SURF FROM LARGE WAVES.
THIS IS A POTENTIALLY SERIOUS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER UPDATES ON THIS STORM SYSTEM.
