UPDATED APRIL 8, 3PM: Caltrans has delayed blasting from Sunday until "possibly Tuesday".

Caltrans is scheduled to begin blasting loose debris on the cliff above Devil’s Slide

  as early as Tuesday, "weather permitting".  Drilling equipment is already on Highway 1, just above the slide, waiting for the process to be completed.  Then crews will drill three 150-foot holes in the Slide so its movements can be measured.

Coastsider went out to the Slide again Friday afternoon at 4pm and it was clear that the roadway is continuing to slip toward the Pacific.

Caltrans is also preparing to put a gate on Highway 1 north of Graywhale Cove and south of the tunnel construction site. This, combined with the concrete barriers near the entrance to McNee Ranch State Park in Montara, will allow pedestrian access to Gray Whale Cove.  "We had a call from a person who was planning to get married there on April 29 and wanted to know if they needed to make other plans," said John Cunliffe, CalTrans spokesperson.

Caltrans issued a press release Thursday night saying that the repairs to the slide "could take several months to complete".

Today, Caltrans expects to begin drillling 150-foot holes to determine the rate of movement of the Slide. That project should take several days to complete.

When will the Slide open again?

It’s the subject of speculation and rumor.  We’ve heard plenty guesses and we’re sure you have, too. Here’s your chance to go on the record, participate in an experiment, and maybe win yourself a nice dinner.

Give us your best guess as to when you think the Devil’s Slide will open.  When the Slide opens, the closest estimate will win a $100 gift certificate from the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company in Princeton, the sometime home of Devil’s Slide Ale.  If we have more than one correct guess, we’ll pick the winner randomly from among the prescient few who got it right.

To enter, click on the graphic.  Give us your best guess and information on how to contact you if you win.  There are a few questions about how you’ve responded to the traffic problems in your own life.  You can choose to answer these questions or skip them. One entry per person, please. Entries close at 11:59pm on Sunday, April 9.

CLARIFICATIONS: "Open" is defined as reliably usable for the foreseeable future. Interpretation is at the sole discretion of the judges (me).  Employees of HMB Brewing Co and Coastsider and their families aren’t eligible.

Workers have been on the cliff face above the Devil’s Slide since this morning prying loose rocks and debris to lessen the chances of another landslide on the road below.

According to John Cunliffe, Caltrans spokesperson, once the loose rocks are gone, CalTrans will move a drill rig to the slide and begin boring three 150-foot holes to measure the slide.  While the rock-clearing requires good weather, the drilling can proceed if it rains.  Each hole could take a day to drill.

Cunliffe cautioned that any repairs will still have to wait until the ground stabilizes, after the rains end.

Meanwhile, CalTrans is examining proposals for the Shamrock Ranch slip-out, but it is expected to be fixed by the time the Slide is repaired. CalTrans has identified the source of the slipout as 22 feet below the road surface.

San Mateo County has declared a local state of emergency because of the financial impact of the closing of Highway 1 on businesses in Pacifica and the Coastside. If approved by the governor, the county can be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of its flood-related expenditures, reports CBS5.

Wednesday afternoon, Coastsider visited the Devil’s Slide just 48 hours after our first visit on Monday.  We were surprised by the amount of deterioration both at the Slide itself and at the slip-out at Shamrock Ranch.

It was clear that in just two days the situation had become significantly worse.

The principal cracks in the pavement at the Slide were wider, the differences in the elevation between each side of the crack had increased from a couple of inches to six inches, the number of smaller cracks in the pavement had increased, and the whole section of highway at the Slide had become a noticeable dip in the road.

Meanwhile, the slip-out at Shamrock Ranch had gone from being a dip to a hole.

Barry Parr	Cheri Parr
Monday: The concrete barriers were already displaced and lower than the pavement by about a foot.	Wednesday: The concrete barriers had sunk at least another foot so that their tops were even with the pavement and the gap between them and the pavement has increased greatly.

Click on the link to see more comparison photos.

The City of Half Moon Bay is holding a "Town Hall Expo" Thursday night at 6:30pm at the Adcock Center.  Come and connect with your elected officials, city employees, friends, and neighbors. Browse through exhibits and learn more about our community.  There will be a presentation at 7pm.  Refreshments will be served.  For more information call (650) 726-8270

EDITOR’S NOTE: This release from the Cabrillo Unified School District was revised on Friday, April 7.  Hours for Cunha and the high school have been pushed back 30 minutes and bus service been added to Cunha from neighborhoods north of Frenchman’s Creek.  School will be closed next week for spring break, and the new schedule will be in place April 17 until Devil’s Slide is reopened.

In order to assist the community in addressing the traffic impact from the closure of Devil’s Slide, Cabrillo Unified School District has developed a temporary alternative plan regarding Cunha and the high school schedules.  We have a temporary transportation assistance plan in place for Cunha students only, who live north of Frenchman’s Creek. 

The revised schedules will begin on Monday, April 17, 2006, and be in place until Devil’s Slide is re-opened.  While the revised schedule may not address all issues and concerns, we are hopeful that it will assist in reducing the traffic impact during the morning commute. 

The elementary schedules will remain the same.  However, if parents/guardians need to drop off students earlier than the normal starting time for school, we will have a staff member on site to supervise beginning at 6:30 a.m.  Parents are requested to walk the students to the designated area at your individual school site. 

Cunha will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:15 p.m. 

Half Moon Bay High School’s first period will begin at 8:15 a.m.; zero period will begin at 7:15 a.m.  All teachers  will be providing  tutoring from 7:45 -8:15 a.m.  

Temporary bus stops for Cunha students have been secured through the District’s emergency fund.  These no charge stops are temporarily in place during the closure of Devil’s Slide.  Times listed are approximate and may vary due to traffic.  THERE WILL BE NO AFTER SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION. 

Cunha Bus Stops:

• El Granada School   7:35 a.m.
• Montara Post Office   8:00 a.m.
• Moss Beach Post Office  8:05 a.m.
• Moss Beach Chevron station  8:10 a.m.
• Pillar Ridge Mobile Home Park 8:20 a.m.
• Alhambra & Cabrillo   8:20 a.m.
• Alhambra & Columbus  8:25 a.m.
• Medio  (West)    8:35 a.m.

We hope that these revised schedules and temporary bus stops will assist the community in addressing some of the impact of the closure of Devil’s Slide.  As soon as the Slide is re-opened, the school schedules will revert back to their original times and the temporary bussing will end.

REVISED April 7, 2006 

On Friday, March 31, Cunha’s drama class performed The Phantom Tollbooth, a play based on a book that many adults still remember as their favorite.

Click on the photo to see Coastsider’s album of the play.

This morning, Half Moon Bay implemented a series of steps to improve the flow of traffic from the southbound Highway 1 to eastbound Highway 92. This morning’s commute seems to have been better until an accident on the 92 has confused the matter. The city has taken several steps to improve traffic flow at the crucial intersection:

• Changed the timing of traffic lights
• Eliminated left turns from westbound 92 onto Main Street
• Used barriers to keep cars from packing the frontage
• Patrolling Strawflower Village to keep commuters from trying to short-cut

One commuter told us he was surprised by how quickly he was able to get over the hill from Frenchman’s Creek, leaving at 7:10am.

However, an overturn on the westbound 92 and Skyline at 7:30am reduced the highway to a single lane for 30 minutes, backing up traffic well past El Granada yet again, and making it difficult to know how much the new traffic measures helped this morning.

UPDATE: Another reason for short-term optimism is that Coastside schools are closed next week for spring break, so traffic should be much better in the mornings. It will also give us an idea of how much the schools contribute to the morning traffic mess, which has been the subject of much speculation this week.  This morning, the school district and principals are meeting to discuss changes in hours and other mitigations if the closure of the Slide continues past next week.

Click to read the city’s release on its new traffic measures.