Full Closure of Highway 9 Due to Holiday Slide to Remain in Effect Until March 4

A full closure of Hwy. 9 remains in effect between lower Glen Arbor Rd. and Holiday Lane due to a slide caused by winter storms. The anticipated reopening of Hwy. 9 is now scheduled for March 4.

During the initial weeks of the response to the Holiday Slide, crews focused on the removal of enormous quantities of debris from the slope and the roadway.

Once the roadway was cleared, crews began work with spider excavators to remove loosened debris from the hillside above the roadway, to install drains in the saturated hillside, and to sculpt and stabilize the slope.

The cleared roadway also exposed greater than anticipated damage to a concrete retaining wall supporting the highway and an adjacent concrete barrier which were buried under the slide material.

Crews initially believed that the structural repairs to the retaining wall could be accomplished behind concrete k-rail which would have allowed for one-way reversing traffic to resume through the area. Once the slide debris was removed and a more though investigation could be completed, it was determined the damage was more significant than originally thought.

Additionally, the Holiday Slide reactivated during rainstorms earlier this week. This has resulted in continued instability of the hillside making it impossible to reopen the highway.

Spider excavators will return to the hillside above the roadway to continue working on debris removal, drainage management, and slope stabilization.

Weather permitting, it is now estimated that it will take three weeks to stabilize the hillside above the roadway before the highway will be able to be safely reopened.

Once Hwy. 9 is reopened, a temporary signal system will be installed to provide one-way traffic control as repair work continues on the retaining wall.

A detour remains available on Glen Arbor Rd. and all businesses in and around Ben Lomond remain open.

Additional updates will be provided as information becomes available.

Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.

Our crews deserve to get home safely too.  Drive slowly and carefully in work zones.