State Route 41 in San Luis Obispo County opens once again

[Tuesday, February 14, 2017] – Highway 41 between Atascadero and Morro Bay is opening today at 5 p.m., according to Morro Bay city officials.

Motorists will encounter one-way reversing traffic control through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. so that Caltrans can perform additional road work at this location. This traffic control is expected to last for up to two weeks.

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[Wednesday, February 8, 2017] – Per City of Morro Bay: Caltrans has been leading the “top down” slide removal operation since the slide occurred on January 6. In order to remove the slide, spider excavators were used.

A wire mesh drapery is being installed on the back slope as the cut proceeds downward. This requires placement of many ground anchors to support the mesh, which controls local instabilities and rock slides that will protect the traveling public once the highway is open.

Caltrans has been pushing, loading, hauling and disposing of the cut slide material every day (including weekends) since January 30. The rain slows this operation down considerably and if too wet forces a shut down. Caltrans has used on average 13 dump trucks from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. to haul the slide material to one of several sites.

Crews are now down to the bottom 20 feet of the slide removal and now the end is in sight. The team has been working day light hours every day since the slide occurred. Night time operations have been deemed unsafe for the crew, particularly during inclement weather which seems to be every day. Crews will continue to work each and every day until the highway is open.

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[Thursday, January 12, 2017] – State Route 41 between Morro Bay and Atascadero is expected to remain closed until mid-February due to recent mud and rockslide activity, according to Caltrans.

The road remains closed between Ironwood Drive and San Gabriel Road.

Crews need to remove more than 20,000 cubic yards of material and debris from the hillside and roadway before the highway can be re-opened.

Motorists may use Highway 41 beyond Ironwood Drive near Morro Bay west of the closure while motorists east of the closure, may use Highway 41 beyond San Gabriel Road by showing a local identification to Caltrans officials stationed at each end of the closure.

Access through the slide area west of Cerro Alto Road will be limited to emergency responders.

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[Monday, January 9, 2017] – Caltrans says Highway 41 between Morro Bay and Atascadero will remain closed through the week.

Crews need to remove approximately 20,000 to 30,000 cubic yards of material and debris from the hillside and roadway.

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[Saturday, January 7, 2017] – As of 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, State Route 41 is still closed due to a major mudslide.

Repair work is underway but it is unclear when the road will reopen to traffic.

Travelers are advised to use State Route 46 as an alternate route.

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[Friday, January 6, 2017] State Route 41 between Morro Bay and Atascadero remains closed due to a mudslide.

CHP reported a mudslide Friday night across State Route 41 near Cerro Alto Road.

Authorities say the closure is from Two Tunnel Road and extends to Los Altos Road.

As of 7:15 AM, this closure remains in place and it is unknown at this time when it will reopen.

Alternate routes between the two cities include using SR 1 or SR 46.

The California Department of Transportation plans to reassess the area Saturday morning.

We will bring you the latest as it comes into our newsroom.