A video shared by Caltrans shows its blasting team hard at work along Highway 1 near Rat Creek in Monterey County.
The team is working to reduce large rocks in the area where a debris flow wiped out a 150-foot section of the roadway during a heavy rainstorm in January.
The Caltrans District 5 Maintenance Blasting team is reducing large rocks on #Hwy1 near Rat Creek in #MontereyCounty. Rocks and trees continue to be removed daily where the highway was lost during recent storms. There is no estimate for re-opening. @CaltransD5 pic.twitter.com/OChQHAG68J
— Jim Shivers (@PIOJimShivers) February 19, 2021
Caltrans says rocks and trees are being removed daily.
The southern closure of Highway 1 in Big Sur is expected to be moved north to the Big Creek Vista Point at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19.
Currently, the highway is closed just north of Pacific Valley because of the washout at Rat Creek.
Caltrans says moving the closure north will open up an additional 11 miles of the highway on the south side of Rat Creek. It's happening three days earlier than originally expected.
North of Rat Creek, the highway is closed just north of the Lime Creek Bridge.
Drivers will find turnarounds at the two closure locations.
At Rat Creek, crews continue to clear away trees, mud, and other debris and assess the damage.
Caltrans says it has not yet determined how to repair that section of the roadway and there is no timeframe for when the highway will reopen.
