Traveling on Highway 41? Here’s why you can still expect delays
A slide-prone stretch of Highway 41 between Morro Bay and Atascadero has reopened following a destructive winter storm, but don’t expect an uninterrupted drive.
Caltrans kicked off a $1.7 million embankment repair project on that section of the highway in September. There is still one-way traffic control about three miles east of the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 41.
Delays of up to 15 minutes can be expected, according to Caltrans.
According to Caltrans District 5 spokesperson Alexa Bertola, construction work on that stretch of Highway 41 was on hold as of Thursday due to the muddy conditions.
However, traffic control continues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Although recent storms produced some scouring, or, soil erosion there, Bertola wrote via email, it’s “nothing detrimental to the project.”
Bertola said the project is still expected to be done this spring, followed by a year of establishing plants in the area.
Souza Construction of San Luis Obispo is building a soldier pile wall at the site to protect a failing embankment below the roadway near Highway 41, which is about a mile east of Morro Creek Ranch Avocado Farm.
As of Thursday, there were storm-related delays at two Caltrans bridge deck replacement projects on Highway 1: one at Old Creek in Cayucos and the other at Toro Creek near Morro Bay.
Bertola said that work is temporarily on hold, until the supporting soil dries out enough to make it safe to continue.
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 2:59 PM.
