County completes temporary road on Mountain Charlie road following landslide

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) —  A major development for residents along Mountain Charlie Road in the Santa Cruz mountains.

The county officials creating a temporary road after a landslide blocked access for eight months.

While this new route provides much needed relief, long term repairs are still in the works. 

While people are glad to see some progress made to repair this road, many are concerned this temporary design won't be durable when winter arrives.

A temporary road is in place where Mountain Charlie Road used to sit.

Its original form was washed away by winter storms, making it impossible for people and emergency service workers to get through.

Just last week, this road reopened, allowing residents to reclaim a vital link to their homes, jobs and essential services.

"I'm thrilled, couldn't be happier," Kristin Thomas resident for 10 years said. "It's amazing because you can actually get to town function, everybody can do what they need to do, go to work, go to school,"

This temporary road comes with limitations, it has a 5 mile per hour speed limit and a 5 ton weight restriction. 

"We do expect that this could move around a little bit, you know, small amounts of movement. you know, we can go up and repair," Steve Wiesner Assistant director of Public Works said. "But we're thinking this road is going to have to actually be good for a couple of years until we can find the funding and working with FEMA on a permanent repair,"

Since the temporary repairs the county has added stop signs on both sides of the slide and installed drainage with the intention to try and capture as much of it as possible. 

But residents are concerned about its durability in wet conditions and drainage issues.

"The concern is that its going to plug and if that plugs and all that water is going to go shooting down the road and it can rip out the hole traverse leading up to there," Daniel Paduano, resident since 2006 said. "So, there are huge drainage concerns still,"

The county is currently seeking the three million dollars for the long term repairs. 

"Hopefully they can find money for it, so we're not worried about this particular spot failing," Paduano said. "With that said, there are multiple other spots along the road that were declared FEMA sites you know, going back to 2017 and all those have still yet to be addressed."

The county is still working with FEMA to find a permanent repair.