It appears that a major bridge along the PCH (CA-1) has crumbled and will cause issues for up to a year (possibly):
Battered By Winter Storms Big Sur is Cut Off From California/
Donna
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It appears that a major bridge along the PCH (CA-1) has crumbled and will cause issues for up to a year (possibly):
Battered By Winter Storms Big Sur is Cut Off From California/
Donna
Ouch ! That's not good news. Hopefully they can get it resolved earlier than first expected, mainly for the residents but it will also impact a lot of travel plans.
Dave.
No kidding! Aside from the scarier aspects, (like running out of food, the loss of livelihood, and the possibility of medical emergencies), I rather envy those people. Can you imagine, having a place like Big Sur all to yourself, without the near constant stream of traffic on CA-1? It has to be surreal, and very, very peaceful.
That bridge must be close to 100 years old; I wonder how many other remote communities in this country are at similar risk, with our steadily aging infrastructure?
Rick
This is a rather significant road closure and certainly a highlight of many a roadtripper's route planning. It might be useful highlighting this closure as a "sticky" in the relevant forum threads.
It shouldn't be too long before CA-1 is open to Big Sur from both directions - that needs to happen to get supplies into the area. Question is whether they will allow tourists - they should because that's about the only source of income for the locals. The Naciemento-Fergusson road is also closed due to storm damage, that should be fixed within a few weeks. So - right now a 61 mile stretch of CA-1 is closed to the public.
According to the Big Sur blog, CA-1 is now open to the public from Carmel to the failed bridge and Big Sur businesses north of the bridge are open. Access from the south is going to be very problematic for a while, currently the barricade is at Ragged Point. There are multiple areas of slide damage that have to be repaired, the Naciemento-Fergusson road is not open yet but "it may be open to the public within days".
The Naciemento-Fergusson Road is now open, but it won't do you much good. From there, you will only have access between Gorda and Limekiln State Park, a stretch of CA-1 which is only 10 miles. However, things are somewhat looking better.
From the Big Sur Blog:
Quote:
Hi All –
We want to provide you with a quick update on the current schedule for the three biggest challenges on Highway 1:
Mud Creek (PM 8.9)
· We are in the process of developing a solution at Mud Creek. This slide is finally slowing down, allowing us to safely evaluate.
· We anticipate no public access in April.
· Local access will continue to be restricted to daylight hours and is subject to change.
Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6)
· Work on the permanent repair has begun.
· There will be no public access in April, and the probability of public access in May is low.
· Local access will be limited to two times per day, 6:30-7:00am and 7:30-8:00pm.
Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52)
· We have evaluated all possibilities and a temporary bridge for vehicular or pedestrian access is not feasible due to conflicts it would create during construction.
· We are in the midst of developing a detailed construction schedule.
· With all the information we have today, we believe that the bridge will be open to traffic in six months.
We will continue to look for all opportunities to increase access for both local residents and the public, and will keep you updated as conditions change.
Thank you for all your support and cooperation and we all get through this. We don’t expect any changes in the next few days, so please accept my sincere wishes for you to have an excellent weekend!
Susana Z. Cruz
Caltrans District 5
Acting Manager
Public Information Office
There was a news item on our local PBS station last night, all about the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge. Oh my goodness, that bridge is really in sad shape, and it is no wonder that vehicle and pedestrian access is not feasible. It is actually \_/ in one place! The news story said "9 months", as has been mentioned above.
Donna
It's \_/ because they have been smashing it with a hoe ram to try to demolish it. They have about 2/3 of it down. Pictures are on the Big Sur Blog.
We now have a target date for opening a new bridge - September 30.
Good job keeping this thread current. I liked that \_/ symbol for bridge down!
Mark
The Big Sur Blog says that they expect to get the road open from the bridge all the way south by the end of May.
That's an impressive reduction in the time required. From end of September to end of May! GLC, I couldn't locate the link that referenced the May opening on the Big Sur Blog.
Mark
No, I guess I was too vague - the bridge won't be done till the end of September, but they are planning to get the road open FROM the bridge all the way south to the current closure by the end of May. Right now, it's closed to through traffic at Ragged Point, which is just north of San Simeon. This will allow the public access to the south part of Big Sur.
Right now, there is no public access to anything between Ragged Point and Pfieffer Canyon, except for a 10 mile stretch between Gorda and Limekiln - which is accessible via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.
There has been a major setback on CA-1, a huge landslide just buried the road at Mud Creek. Don't plan on it being open from Ragged Point to Gorda anytime soon.
Our local news coverage said much the same thing this evening. It's all the rain that we've had.
Yet we are bracing ourselves for a heavy fire season -- which to some of us, doesn't make sense because of all that rain. What has happened, though, is that there is now more vegetation, with the sun and wind drying it out and making it more vulnerable to fire. At least one of the two dozen fires in Southern California in the past two weeks has been pinned on arson; another one on an errant campfire.
Donna
I've been looking at the coverage of this slide. It's hard to imagine what it will take to rebuild the highway through this area of the slide!
Actually, look at the photos from this week's coverage on the Big Sur Blog, the coast has a new point it didn't have before! The direct link just goes to main page, you need to scroll down to the post made on May 21st -- the text of this post starts: Photos of Mud Creek from yesterday, Saturday, May 20 when Mud Creek lost millions of cubic yards at 9:30 pm and also photos from today –Photos with credits shown at bottom of email. Click on the text on that page to see six incredible photos of the slide.
On last night's news, there was a brief blurb about the big slide. Evidently, they are now predicting that it will be at least a full year before the entire CA-1 will be reopened. That slide, which they showed from air reconnaissance photos and video, shows the sheer mass that covers the road. In the photos and videos, you could see that there was no way to build a detour around it, either.
Donna
On a better note, they are estimating CA-1 will be open between Lucia and the downed bridge in early July. Until the bridge is finished, you will be able to access the area between Gorda and the bridge via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. It will probably be a year before it will be open between Ragged Point and Gorda.
At the south end, they moved the Ragged Point closure north 5 miles today.
They are still on target for opening the road from Limekiln State Park to the downed bridge in early July. The only access to this stretch will be via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.
Caltrans opened the stretch between the downed bridge and Lucia yesterday. There is single lane alternating access through the Paul's Slide area.
This leaves only 2 closures:
1. Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge
2. Between Mud Creek and Salmon Creek
The stretch between Mud Creek and Pfeiffer Canyon is only accessible via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road.
https://blogbigsur.files.wordpress.c...es_7-18-17.png
George,
Thanks for keeping this thread updated!
Mark
http://www.ksbw.com/article/pfeiffer...layed/12054867
Caltrans is behind schedule. The bridge now looks like it won't be open till sometime in October.
Caltrans is behind schedule???? Ha ha ha ha! It is ALWAYS behind schedule!
They're working on CA-67. It was supposed to be done in June. Ha -- the most recent sign says, road delays 7 pm to 5 am, Aug 20 to Sep 20. I look for it to be delayed some more.
Donna
Actually, do you remember when the CA-14 overpass collapsed onto the I-15 after the January 17, 1994 Northridge earthquake? They completed the reconstruction under budget and 4 weeks earlier than expected!Quote:
Originally Posted by DonnaR57
From the LA Times:
SACRAMENTO — Bringing another dose of relief to quake-weary Southern California commuters, officials said Tuesday that the reconstruction of two Interstate 5 bridges will be completed a month early, enabling the heavily traveled freeway to open to traffic next week.
And the same thing happened with the reconstruction of the road into Death Valley a few years ago. Ahead of schedule!
Mark
Latest word from Caltrans is the bridge will be open in mid-October and Mud Creek will be open late summer 2018.
Barring any issues, the new bridge is scheduled to be open by the end of the day on Friday the 13th!
The new Pfieffer Canyon Bridge is OPEN!
Now, the only closure on CA-1 between Carmel and Cambria is at the Mud Creek slide, which will not be open till late summer 2018.
What does this mean for you? If you are traveling south, you will have to take the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road back to US-101 to travel further south (or return to Carmel). Take it to Jolon, then G-14/G-18. You can take CA-46 to get back to the coast at Cambria.
If you are heading north, the road is open past San Simeon to just past Ragged Point, but you will have to turn around and go back to Cambria to go farther north.
Note that the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road is a narrow winding steep road that goes through a military reservation and is subject to temporary closures at any time. Long wide vehicles and RV's not recommended.
Pacific Coast Highway south of Big Sur to reopen by end of July, officials say.
Of course they say it could be delayed and there may be lane closure to complete work on weekdays.[
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/l...215042145.html
Starting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, travelers will be able to drive from Cambria to Carmel for the first time in 18 months, a Caltrans spokeswoman announced Tuesday.
The agency will do a “soft opening” of the All-American Highway at Mud Creek, 34 miles north of Cambria, where a massive landslide in May 2017 demolished and buried the roadway.
That’s two months earlier than originally estimated and two days before a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorates the reopening.
That is truly awesome news.
Thanks for the report.
Here is a pretty cool video shot in January of the road construction.
Mark