Damaged road cut off hundreds of Lake Nacimiento residents. But a fix is in the works

Between 200 and 300 Lake Nacimiento residents who have been cut off due to damage to the only road in and out of the area should see relief as soon as Saturday, San Luis Obispo County Public Works said in a news release Friday.

The residents of the Running Deer Ranch, CAL-Shasta and Tri-Counties neighborhoods have been isolated since Monday’s storm damaged Chimney Rock Road, forcing its closure.

Although the road looks safe from above, engineers discovered storm water had washed away soil beneath the pavement and the culverts below, creating a large void, the county said.

The county initially said the repair work could take two to four months, but a new plan has allowed crews to speed up that timeline substantially and make the roadway passable with a temporary solution this weekend.

Instead of a typical repair, Public Works is collapsing the road and rebuilding it, SLO County Public Works spokesperson Paula McCambridge wrote in an email.

Public Works and contractor Souza Construction are working around the clock to complete the work quickly, the county said.

“That decision to collapse the road meant we were going from what would have possibly been a monthlong repair to one that will be potentially completed by the weekend,” said Public Works Director John Diodati in the news release. “There was a sense of urgency to provide access to these residents by getting this temporary repair finished before the next storm hit.”

Quick repair plan came after residents drove around closure signs

On Thursday morning, workers from San Luis Obispo County Public Works installed concrete barriers at the intersection of Chimney Rock Road and Fawn Lane near the eastern side of the road, SLO County Office of Emergency Services spokesperson Rachel Dion said.

The decision to install the concrete barricades was made because some residents were driving around signs indicating the road was closed, Dion said.

“It’s a life safety issue for people to drive over the road,” she said.

Households that rely on Chimney Rock Road for access to and from their homes and downtown Paso Robles have been left isolated by the road closure.

“County thinks we are ‘nobodys’,” frustrated resident Sam Sativa told the Tribune in a Thursday email before the county had come up with its new repair plan. “County has made a decision to close the road to our area with no consultation with anyone that actually lives out here.”

Dion said she understands the closure of this main road is inconvenient for residents, but said it was done out of safety concerns.

“We know people are frustrated, and we’re trying our best to restore services,” she said.

SLO County offers transportation support for stranded Chimney Rock residents

The county offered stranded residents a boat ride out Thursday morning at 11 a.m., but because the residents are not under evacuation order the county is not providing additional housing support.

Residents who wanted to leave their homes temporarily or until the road is fixed could take the boat of the neighborhood to Oak Shores, where they could then catch a bus that took them to the Paso Robles.

“We’ll boat you out and take you to the Paso Robles Event Center, and from there you’re responsible for staying with family or finding a solution,” Dion said.

The county-sponsored boat ride was a one-time event, but the Office of Emergency Services will continue monitoring the situation in case needs change, Dion said.

“Also exploring other options for providing them ingress and egress,” Dion said in a text message.

Dion said the county has prioritized fixing the road, restoring power, mitigating emergency services delays and connecting with residents who may wish to leave the area

“We have an entire team dedicated to working through the situation up there,” she said. “Initially our No. 1 priority was making it so people aren’t driving on the roadway and risking their lives.”

SLO County expedites Chimney Rock Road construction

On Thursday night, Sativa watched as crews from Public Works brought construction equipment out to collapse and rebuild the damaged stretch of Chimney Rock Road.

“I believe the men said they would be working all night,” Sativa told The Tribune in an email. “They’re trying to beat the rain. I think they’re going to knock it down to build it up by Sunday to at least walk across. But it will be drivable (sic) soon, depending on weather.”

McCambridge confirmed that Public Works opted to collapse and rebuild the road to speed up reopening of the main thruway for residents that rely on the road for transportation.

SLO County officials work to restore power

Access isn’t the only challenge facing residents who live near the lake in the hills west of Paso Robles.

They also have been without power for multiple days, Dion said.

The county is working with PG&E to try to restore electricity to the area as quickly as possible, she said. According to PG&E’s outage map, about 84 customers have been without power since the storm on Monday.

Fortunately, many residents in the area are well-resourced for challenges such as this. Some households have generators, and others have boats they have been using to circumvent the road closure and visit town.

“A lot of the folks we talked to out there are very self-sufficient,” Dion said. “They’re very tight knit, they have phone trees and emergency plans and they all check on each other.”

Dion said that although there are about 400 to 500 residences in the area, the county found not all of them are occupied, leaving substantially fewer people impacted by the current closer than was initially anticipated.

SLO County officials warn residents may experience delays for emergency services

Dion said the most urgent concern for the county is making sure residents of Chimney Rock Road who do choose to stay in their homes understand that emergency response times may be impacted.

Fire Capt. Derek McTiernan said the area off of Chimney Rock Road was already part of Cal Fire’s expanded service area and sometimes they would launch an emergency medical services helicopter instead of an ambulance for an emergency call.

“It’s a long drive even on a good day,” McTiernan said.

But now that Chimney Rock Road is closed to traffic, sending a fire engine out is no longer an option.

“There’s not much changing other than the engine doesn’t have access with the Chimney Rock side,” McTiernan said. “That’s going to delay the response time.”

Cal Fire does have an option to launch a boat on the Heritage Ranch side to send resources to the community in an emergency, something that has been done in the past, he said.

Also, Cal Fire has access to a list the county Office of Emergency Services maintains that defines who has potentially life-threatening medical conditions who may require emergency care, he said.

This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Damaged road cut off hundreds of Lake Nacimiento residents. But a fix is in the works."

Sara Kassabian

The Tribune

805-781-7849

Sara Kassabian is a former journalist for The Tribune.