Caltrans has announced plans to reopen Highway 41 West at 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 11 after a month-long closure due to landslides.
Caltrans spokesman Jim Shivers announced the highway will open to two-way traffic for Saturday evening and Sunday. On Monday, February 13, crews will return to the stretch of highway around Cerro Alto Road to continue work on shoring up the hillsides affected by the slides.
Shivers estimated that over the next two weeks, the highway will be reduced to one-way reversing traffic between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to accommodate the roadwork.
The two-lane highway linking Atascadero and Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County has been closed since early January, when heavy rains triggered a slide that covered the roadway in rocks, earth and mud. The rains also destabilized bluff tops above the roadway, and over the past month, Caltrans crews have been removing several hundred cubic yards of debris to prevent further slides.