Highway 1 travelers could face 1-hour delays as work proceeds on SLO County slide area
Travelers heading north out of Cambria toward Big Sur should be prepared for delays of up to an hour due to a “still active” slide area where repairs are being made.
According to information released Monday by Caltrans, weekday traffic control in the immediate vicinity of the Polar Star slide, one mile south of Ragged Point near the San Luis Obispo/Monterey county border, was set to start Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
That’s expected to be the daytime schedule on weekdays for at least two weeks, the road agency predicted. Crews with specialized equipment will be on site to remove remaining slide material from above the roadway.
The highway will be fully open without traffic control from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays, and on weekends from 5 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Monday.
“These weekday, one-hour traffic delays, are necessary for crews and equipment to dedicate the maximum amount of daylight hours to these efforts in advance of future weather events,” Caltrans said.
Travelers in the area will be warned about the delays by message boards and directional signs.
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Closures of the highway often have devastating financial effects on nearby businesses.
The Ragged Point Inn & Resort felt those effects, according to Matthew Ramey, assistant general manager. In an email reply to The Cambrian, he wrote, “it’s never a great thing when the road closes. The closer you get to the closure, and the further you are from civilization is a surreal feeling. We were looking forward to a busy holiday break, and that didn’t really come this year.”
The rockslide discovered late on Dec. 22 covered both lanes of the highway and undermined support for a large rock mass above the road. After Caltrans closed the road at a point south of Ragged Point but just barely north of main Piedras Blancas elephant-seal rookery viewing area, the agency signed Souza Construction of San Luis Obispo to do the $1.25 million emergency project to clear the slide, remove the unsupported rock above the roadway, and perform other related repairs.
The route to Ragged Point, Piedras Blancas and beyond was fully closed until it reopened with limitations at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
In the initial repair efforts, Caltrans maintenance staff and contracted crews rappelled down the hillside in a highly skilled maneuver called rock scaling designed to dislodge debris and rock. That was followed by crews blasting the rock mass, removing major portions of it, according to Caltrans spokesman Kevin Drabinski.
For traffic updates on other state highways in San Luis Obispo County, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 6:33 PM.
