Highway 101 traffic slowed to almost standstill between North County and SLO

Roadwork is severely slowing Highway 101 traffic to a crawl between Atascadero and San Luis Obispo on Monday evening.

According to Caltrans, one southbound lane of the highway was closed for drainage cleaning in the area of Tassajara Creek Road, south of the Highway 58 exit.

The closure began before 1 p.m. and was expected to be cleared before rush hour traffic in the region, according to the Caltrans’ Quickmap. But as of 5 p.m., traffic was still at a standstill.

The closure appears to have severely backed up traffic along the highly traveled roadway, with some drivers reporting it took as long as an hour to travel between Atascadero and San Luis Obispo, according to CHP traffic logs.

Caltrans District 5 spokesman Jim Shivers said there was also tree clearing in both directions between Fox Hollow Road and Reservoir Canyon Road.

Shivers said the roadwork is not scheduled for tomorrow.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

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Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.