Many Drivers Waited for Hours due to the Road Closure in Del Norte County

Last night a major landslide hit U.S. 101 at Last Chance Grade in Del Norte County, due to the heavy rain.

Drivers on the 101 route were met with an inconvenient road closure during their travels this morning. 

“I’m in Oregon and I’m driving home, I wish I would have taken I-5 instead, but I thought, you know, 101 was prettier, so, ”Louise Gould said. 

“We were at church and we were going to CC (Crescent City) to get some lunch and then my friend and I, Richard, saw this,”Atul Saini, a Klamath resident, said. 

This isn’t the first time a major road closure has happened in Last Chance Grade   and some residents are hoping for a better solution.

“Why can’t they build a tunnel? This thing has broken four or five times in the last 20 years and I’ve been here before, you know,” Saini said. “I talked to the guys all the time here, you know, we’re spending so much money, just invest the money in the tunnel.”

Many drivers throughout the day were stuck for hours just north of Klamath, waiting for pilot cars to escort them through the construction.

“I was down in the bay area, I left at like 4:30 this morning thinking I would get home at like one. I live in Coos Bay,” Gould said. “I turned around and went down, there’s a café down there and a motel […]and then I just decided to get back in line and hope for the best.”

PIO of CalTrans Dist. 1, Manny Machado, emailed Redwood News stating: “As of 10:30 a.m., crews continue to remove slide material from the roadway. We hope to have the area reopened to motorists by 2:30 p.m. this is subject to change and is dependent on no additional slide activity.”

The last update from CalTrans was posted on their Face back page at 12:25 p.m. stating that the road reopened: “To one-way controlled traffic south of Crescent City at Last Chance Grade, Del Norte County.”