Palo Colorado Road Closed

Palo Colorado Road, just south of Carmel is closed after recent storms caused a section of it to crumble. Monterey County Public Works announced the closure earlier today after the culvert below the road collapsed earlier this week. Public Works says the damage is so bad that it will need substantial road reconstruction. A process they expect to take at least 30 days. The faulty culvert is causing a major headache for residents on Palo Colorado Road. They parked their cars on the other side of the work site before Monterey County closes the road to make repairs. “The culvert collapsed several days ago, it’s impinging on the road and undermining it so the county has closed the road for safety concerns.” said Jake Goetz, assistant chief with the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade. The area is no stranger to natural disaster. It’s the same spot that the Soberanes fire burned 41 homes last summer. “The fire and the recent storm has left us with a lot more devastation than we had originally anticipated” Said Tina Hannas, a nearby resident. “The fact that [this road] has been undermined to this degree is certainly a safety issue it’s also causing a lot of inconvenience for folks that live on the upper ridges.” Goetz says the effects from the fire still linger. He says flames burned trees and other vegetation right up to the edge of the creek. That made it easy for branches and logs to fall into it. “With more water those log jams became mobile again and moved downstream again” Goetz said. “That’s what’s causing the issues or clogging the culverts and blocking the bridges as they run into them.” Tina says the Palo Colorado community will continue to work together. Despite the damage done in the area they’re still happy to call it home. “We love it for just the natural beauty and the drama Mother Nature kind of tosses at us, it’s fun.” County Public Works is developing a plan to provide swift repairs to the road. Until repairs are complete, local and through traffic will not have access past the fire station.