Highway 190 could remain closed until Wednesday

Caltrans maintenance crews clearing mud and debris from Highway 190 between Camp Nelson and Springville encountered more work than they could finish in a weekend, and have pushed back their timeline for re-opening the mountain road as well as recruiting a little extra help.

Caltrans closed a six miles stretch of the highway between Wishon Drive and Mccomber Drive on Thursday after a series of Pineapple Express-fed storms delivered heavy rain, triggering severe mudslides in the area burned by the Pier Fire.

Their initial plan was to have the road back open to all traffic by 3 p.m. Monday, but are now saying that might not happen until Wednesday.

“Currently our maintenance crews have a contractor out there helping them with the cleanup, but right now we don’t have a specific time as to when it will open,” said Tammy Cox, public information chief for Caltrans. “Right now they’re looking at Wednesday as a possible opening day, but that’s barring any complications, excessive road damage, or weather that might sneak in.”

Weather forecasts for this week call for no rain, high temps in the upper 70s by Friday, and dry conditions into the first week of April.

The highway was closed two weeks ago due to mudslides for 12 hours when a brief but heavy rainstorm moved through the area.

Cox added they won’t know the full extent to which the surface area of the highway was damaged by the slides until the cleanup process has finished.

Drivers needing access to areas above the closure can still use the Western Divide Highway (M107) at California Hot Springs.