Efforts to open up a clogged culvert and reopen Highway 154 will take longer than originally predicted, a Caltrans spokesman told Noozhawk on Sunday.
Sunday afternoon, Caltrans District 5 spokesman Jim Shivers said the highway would be closed “indefinitely.”
The highway was shut down Saturday afternoon between Foothill Road (Highway 192) and Highway 246, and official said at the time they hoped to get traffic flowing again by 5 p.m. Sunday.
The clogged culvert is near Lake Cachuma in the Santa Ynez Valley, and is filled with with debris — mainly large downed trees and limbs — washed down the mountains from the 2017 Whittier Fire burn area during Saturday’s heavy rains.
Cynthi Bacon, who lives nearby, captured amazing video of the debris flow that caused the clog.
Duval Canyon Debris-Flow Video by Cynthi Bacon from Noozhawk on Vimeo.
“Engineers report we are still working to locate the end of the plugged culvert,” Shivers said. “As a result, water is beginning to accumulate on the roadway, It is not certain that we will be able to open the highway by 5 p.m.”
Pumps are being used to drain the water from the uphill side of the roadway, and heavy equipment is removing the debris.
“The culvert is under 30 feet of water,” Shiver said. “We will need to evaluate roadway surface as well.”
An 8-foot-high arched culvert is supposed to allow water flowing down the mountain to pass under the highway and into Lake Cachuma. But witnesses told Noozhawk it is packed with debris, and water is only seeping through.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
Click here for Caltrans road conditions reports.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
