US-101 in Montecito mudslide closure & reopening

[DTComposer]

http://www.ksby.com/story/37260042/ways-to-get-around-the-highway-101-closure

The mudslides have inundated the freeway, particularly around Olive Mill Road. No side routes are available either (including CA-192) as the entire area is still under a mandatory evacuation order.

People from Santa Barbara and points north needing to get to Ventura County or the Los Angeles area must make a significant detour, cutting across the mountains on CA-166, CA-58 (both of which are treacherous drives for those not familiar with the routes) or even further north on CA-46. The drive from Santa Barbara to L.A., which can normally be made in two hours or less, is now a minimum of 4 1/2 hours-plus.

[nexus73]

If I was rich enough to have a nice house in Montecito, I'd be heading for my equally nice winter house in Palm Springs.  Given that today was 80 and sunny with no more storms like the one which totally drenched SB coming in AFAIK, I am surprised Caltrans does not move fast to open 101. 

Rick 

[bing101]

http://abc7.com/montecito-mudslide-body-found-increasing-death-toll-to-20/2943504/

Here is an update 20 people are dead in the Montecito Mudslides.


Mod Note: Removed unnecessary size tags (see below). –Roadfro

[hotdogPi]

http://abc7.com/montecito-mudslide-body-found-increasing-death-toll-to-20/2943504/

Here is an update 20 people are dead in the Montecito Mudslides.

Can you explain the small text?

[oscar]

http://abc7.com/montecito-mudslide-body-found-increasing-death-toll-to-20/2943504/

Here is an update 20 people are dead in the Montecito Mudslides.

bing101, this isn't the first time you've posted in tiny and almost invisible type, using "size=2px" tags. Stop it!

EDIT: You since modified your post to sub in "size=3" tags for the "size=2px" tags. That makes the text readable. But why are you even using size tags at all?

[Max Rockatansky]

Apparently the traffic could through US 101 in that area is 70,000 per day.  Pretty soon Caltrans will have to open up something through the area but I would imagine it would be a substantial detour until clean up.  Apparently CA 192 isn't in all that great of shape either according to the Caltrans Quickmap.  Apparently some of the surface roads along 101 are passable but are only open to emergency crews searching for people.

[compdude787]

http://abc7.com/montecito-mudslide-body-found-increasing-death-toll-to-20/2943504/

Here is an update 20 people are dead in the Montecito Mudslides.

bing101, this isn't the first time you've posted in tiny and almost invisible type, using "size=2px" tags. Stop it!

EDIT: You since modified your post to sub in "size=3" tags for the "size=2px" tags. That makes the text readable. But why are you even using size tags at all?

Yeah, you don't need to ever use the size tags.

[roadfro]

http://abc7.com/montecito-mudslide-body-found-increasing-death-toll-to-20/2943504/

Here is an update 20 people are dead in the Montecito Mudslides.

bing101, this isn't the first time you've posted in tiny and almost invisible type, using "size=2px" tags. Stop it!

EDIT: You since modified your post to sub in "size=3" tags for the "size=2px" tags. That makes the text readable. But why are you even using size tags at all?

Yeah, you don't need to ever use the size tags.

@bing101:  This is the second time I have removed unnecessary size tags from one of your posts on the Pacific Southwest board. Stop using size tags. Per the Forum Guidelines:

What's not allowed:
[...]

• Use formatting sparingly. When formatting is used, it should be done for a reason, not simply to make your posts stand out. (As an example, posting a list of Interstates you traveled on with the ones you clinched marked in green is acceptable, but coloring your entire post teal just because you like the way it looks is not.)

[gonealookin]

As NDOT planned and built that sunken stretch of I-580 in Carson City along the base of Prison Hill, which could potentially send down a lot of water and debris in a very short time during an intense summer thunderstorm, I wondered what are the chances that becomes a mud trap at some point.  In that case it might actually prevent some damage west of there by catching the flash flood rather than allowing it to spread westward into residential areas.

[roadfro]

As NDOT planned and built that sunken stretch of I-580 in Carson City along the base of Prison Hill, which could potentially send down a lot of water and debris in a very short time during an intense summer thunderstorm, I wondered what are the chances that becomes a mud trap at some point.  In that case it might actually prevent some damage west of there by catching the flash flood rather than allowing it to spread westward into residential areas.

There appears to be a flood channel on the east side of the freeway (between the top of the freeway cut and Edmonds Dr) along much of that stretch, which should pick up most of any flood water/mud/debris before it would reach to the freeway. ISTR they built a detention basin somewhere on that end of the freeway to help address that potential issue.

[theroadwayone]

If I was rich enough to have a nice house in Montecito, I'd be heading for my equally nice winter house in Palm Springs.  Given that today was 80 and sunny with no more storms like the one which totally drenched SB coming in AFAIK, I am surprised Caltrans does not move fast to open 101. 

Rick

I'd do the same thing if I were you. You know what, come to think of it, I'd take a shovel and clear it out myself if I so have to. I'll also "borrow" someone's bulldozer if it comes to that.

[sparker]

As of this evening (1/15), Caltrans is projecting 7-10 days until traffic can again use US 101 through the Montecito area.  However, they aren't speculating as of yet whether the entire freeway will be opened or temporarily reconfigured to allow one lane per direction (probably with one of the two carriageways handling both directions in the interim).  Also no word about whether they're intending to dig out CA 192 in the immediate future.  The aftermath of the mudslide will likely continue to pose an ongoing regional problem for some time to come.

[froggie]

There's also concern about a potential moderate rain event during the first part of next week.  That'd hamper any cleanup efforts, especially if enough falls to trigger additional mudslides.

[Hiroshi66]

The events in Montecito have been heartbreaking. Prayers for the victims and their families/loved ones. What a horrible tragedy...

In regards to the closure of US 101, I decided to postpone business related trips to Santa Barbara due to the amount of time it would take for me to use the detour route (I-5 to CA 166 to US 101 South and back).

I noticed last night traveling southbound on US 101 that there is a lot of northbound truck traffic going up the opposite direction. This was in the Ventura/Oxnard/Camarillo area. Yes, this could be local traffic, but I wonder where these trucks are headed if the Bay Area (or even the Central Coast) is no longer accessible from SoCal via US 101.

[sparker]

The events in Montecito have been heartbreaking. Prayers for the victims and their families/loved ones. What a horrible tragedy...

In regards to the closure of US 101, I decided to postpone business related trips to Santa Barbara due to the amount of time it would take for me to use the detour route (I-5 to CA 166 to US 101 South and back).

I noticed last night traveling southbound on US 101 that there is a lot of northbound truck traffic going up the opposite direction. This was in the Ventura/Oxnard/Camarillo area. Yes, this could be local traffic, but I wonder where these trucks are headed if the Bay Area (or even the Central Coast) is no longer accessible from SoCal via US 101.

Well, they're certainly not headed up CA 33; it's closed as well (and not suitable for large trucks even on a good day!).  Its likely those are shipments to the myriad warehouses in the Camarillo/Oxnard/Montalvo area -- or they're intended for Santa Barbara or other coastal points and are simply going to wait nearby (likely on side streets in the warehouse districts mentioned above) until US 101 opens, so they can get a bit of a head start.   The cargo's unlikely to be anything perishable or time-sensitive.

[mrsman]

The events in Montecito have been heartbreaking. Prayers for the victims and their families/loved ones. What a horrible tragedy...

In regards to the closure of US 101, I decided to postpone business related trips to Santa Barbara due to the amount of time it would take for me to use the detour route (I-5 to CA 166 to US 101 South and back).

I noticed last night traveling southbound on US 101 that there is a lot of northbound truck traffic going up the opposite direction. This was in the Ventura/Oxnard/Camarillo area. Yes, this could be local traffic, but I wonder where these trucks are headed if the Bay Area (or even the Central Coast) is no longer accessible from SoCal via US 101.

Well, they're certainly not headed up CA 33; it's closed as well (and not suitable for large trucks even on a good day!).  Its likely those are shipments to the myriad warehouses in the Camarillo/Oxnard/Montalvo area -- or they're intended for Santa Barbara or other coastal points and are simply going to wait nearby (likely on side streets in the warehouse districts mentioned above) until US 101 opens, so they can get a bit of a head start.   The cargo's unlikely to be anything perishable or time-sensitive.

Would it make sense to pay for a driver to wait until the 101 reopens?  Even cargo w/o time sensitivity would probably need to be delivered within a couple of weeks.  Even with  the delays, it would be quicker to take I-5 and 166.

[theroadwayone]

It's expected to be open for tomorrow morning's commute. CalTrans will make it official via social media.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-freeway-reopens-20180121-story.html

[nexus73]

101 is supposed to reopen Monday morning according to a Yahoo article that came out a short time ago.  All the mud has been removed.  Right now it is fix signs, clean roadway and make sure the drainage system is good to go.

Rick

[sparker]

From the various pix I've seen of the reopened freeway, it looks like they installed new thrie-beam median barriers -- one per direction -- through there; IIRC, the original barrier was simply vegetation (which clearly was washed away), although there might have been a barrier tucked under the bushes (similar to CA 99 in the San Joaquin Valley).  Would be nice if somewhere down the line it would be replanted -- but for now, just getting US 101 open is all one could ask for.

[jdbx]

From the various pix I've seen of the reopened freeway, it looks like they installed new thrie-beam median barriers -- one per direction -- through there; IIRC, the original barrier was simply vegetation (which clearly was washed away), although there might have been a barrier tucked under the bushes (similar to CA 99 in the San Joaquin Valley).  Would be nice if somewhere down the line it would be replanted -- but for now, just getting US 101 open is all one could ask for.

The 3-beam has been there in Montecito for a long time. I think about 20 years ago after all the crossover accidents on CA-85 they updated the standard and began installing median 3-beam barrier on all of the more narrow medians.  I remember prior that time, most highways only had the oleander and maybe a cable barrier if that.  Since that time, I have also noticed that the policy seems to be to remove older double-beam guardrail center dividers and replace them with concrete single slope barriers.

30 years ago, most of the highways in my area still had the oleander medians and iceplant ground cover around interchanges.  Most have long since been widened into the the center median, eliminating the oleander and as interchanges are rebuilt, the iceplant goes too.

There is something about that oleander and iceplant 60's California freeway aesthetic that I miss.

[sparker]

IIRC, the original beam on 101 through Montecito was, in a fashion similar to that of CA 99, tucked under the oleanders rather than right along the inside shoulder; it looks as if the replacement delineates the shoulder this time (since the bushes were also a victim of the mudslide, this would place the thrie-beams where they'd be most effective).  BTW, if the segments of CA 99 that still feature beams at the median center (mostly in Kern and Tulare counties) are eventually upgraded, that will probably be one of the changes that would occur.   

[Techknow]

I think this is worthy of a bump. Three weeks ago, Caltrans D7 released a video of the mud slide impact. You can see where the mud is relative to a 15 feet clearance (see 0:43.) Getting rid of all that in two weeks to open the freeway is quite an accomplishment.