Final stretch of Pacific Coast Highway closed by storm to reopen Friday
The final stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County closed after mud and rocks swept across the road during a winter rainstorm will reopen Friday.
The coastal highway from Sycamore Canyon Road to Yerba Buena Road will open between 2 and 3 p.m., said Patrick Chandler, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation.
Earlier this month, the stretch from Sycamore Canyon Road to Los Posas Road in Port Hueneme was reopened.
“We definitely understand commuters were affected by this closure,” Chandler said.
The months-long closure, Chandler said, was necessary to stabilize the roadway and ensure it was safe for commuters. The highway in the affected area is typically used by roughly 10,000 commuters daily, he said.
The highway has been closed since November when a powerful storm struck California and damaged the road.
The hillside above the section of the highway that was closed was scorched in the 2013 Springs fire, leaving it weak and vulnerable to rain.
Workers moved 40,000 yards of dirt to rebuild slopes washed away by the rainstorm. Using a 200-ton crane, they moved boulders weighing four to eight tons to stabilize the slopes.
“We worked as fast as we could,” Chandler said.
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