As of 4/17, Highway 101 has been closed due to a slide just north of Leggett. Currrently, CalTrans estimates the 101 will be open no sooner than Wednesday, April 19th. 

U.S. 101 CLOSURE UPDATE - 4/18 10:22 AM

The slide is still very active as of this morning, preventing crews from safely working to remove debris. Even if workers are able to begin removal operations today, more rain is forecast tomorrow, which may cause the slide to become active again.

At this point, there is no estimated time to reopening. While we'd like to remain optimistic, we'd encourage you to plan on including detours to Interstate 5 in your travel plans for the next few days. We'll update regularly as we get more information.

UPDATE - 4/21 11:00AM

From Caltrans District One:

"Work is progressing at both ends of the slide north of Leggett in Mendocino County this morning. We’re evaluating whether the north end of the slide is stable enough to safely begin night work, which will allow our contractor to work around the clock to reopen the highway.

Additional specialized equipment will be airlifted in next week to assist in removing debris from the roadway.

At this time, our best estimates point to a reopening of U.S. Highway 101 to one-way traffic control sometime mid-to-late next week. 

The highway will not be reopened this weekend, and there are no local detours available. Travel plans should include detouring over onto Interstate 5 via Routes 20, 36, or 299 to loop back towards U.S. 101 on the other side of the closure. Motorists should anticipate these detours to take upwards of 7 hours."

However, 299 is temporarily closed as of this morning, 4/21: 

From the California Highway Patrol:

"At approximately 6:30 am, Humboldt Area CHP responded to a report of a Big Rig that had overturned on SR-299 near Mile Post Marker 23.  CHP units and Cal-Trans are on scene at this time doing one way traffic control.  The driver did not sustain any injuries from the collision.  SR-299 may be completely closed for a short period of time during the recovery of the Big Rig.  Anyone taking SR-299 please be careful and watch your speed as you approach the area of SR-299 Mile Post Marker 23 near Redwood Creek Bridge."

UPDATE 4/24 7:00AM

From CalTrans

"As long as the weather cooperates, and no new major rockfall occurs, one lane of U.S. 101 north of Leggett will reopen Monday at 6 PM!"

UPDATE 4/25 6:00PM

From CalTrans:

"Traffic is flowing on U.S. 101 north of Leggett! Please follow flagger instructions. Spotters will be watching the hillside 24/7 for rockfall and will alert the flaggers to briefly stop traffic as needed."

UPDATE 4/26 at 10:00AM

Due to another slide just north of Leggett, Highway 101 is closed yet again.

From CalTrans:

"101 remains closed with no estimated time for reopening. The slide remained active all night, so it is unknown when it will be safe for our contractor to begin cleanup again."

UPDATE 4/28 at 9:00AM

From CalTrans:

"Crews are working to reopen the highway to one-way controlled traffic by sundown, barring any further slide activity or other unforeseen circumstances.

Our contractors were able to resume some work towards the end of the shift yesterday... Crews have cleared a path for equipment and vehicles to move back-and-forth between the two staging areas on either side of the slide, but there’s more work to be done before the highway can be opened to traffic."

Please check CalTrans tripcheck prior to any travel out of the area for up to date road condition and closure information: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist9/road_con/Road_con.html