Highway 101 re-opened on April 28.

A look at the landslide: how Caltrans re-opened Highway 101

MENDOCINO Co., 5/3/17 — Highway 101 has been open again for five days, this time, hopefully for good. Shortly before 5pm on Friday April 28, a few hours before anticipated, CalTrans re-opened the 101 to traffic between Mendocino and Humboldt counties, after clearing the third landslide on the same slope in a few weeks. Four days earlier, on Tuesday, April 24, CalTrans had re-opened the same stretch of road after a week-long closure — only to close it again when the slide became active after a mere 29 hours. Currently one lane is open, although debris from the slide is still being removed, and a cage mesh system and fencing may need to be installed. Before the third slide occurred, CalTrans workers and contractors Ghilotti Construction removed more than 18,000 cubic yards of debris in more than 2,241 truck loads, and workers continue to clear the cliff face of debris and remove it from the area. Motorists can expect delays up to 30 minutes due to ongoing work, and it may be months until both lanes are fully clear. Some of the surface material on the cliff remains active, and it can be hard to predict mother nature.

CalTrans projects 101 to reopen “this weekend”

MENDOCINO Co., 4/26/17 — In a brief Facebook updated this afternoon CalTrans District 1 stated that they are “cautiously optimistic” that one way, controlled, traffic might resume on Hwy. 101, this weekend. The area has been cleared as safe to begin work, and workers are clearing the debris. The highway was once again closed when a recurring landslide about six miles north of Leggett, dramatically crashed over the the highway last night. A video of the event has now been shared on Facebook over 600 times, and has been viewed over 600,000 times.