UPDATE: Southbound lanes of Highway 17 back open after mudslide

UPDATE 2/10/2017 10:12 p.m.: Southbound lanes of Highway 17 at Summit Road are back open after a mudslide shut down the highway for most of the day.

Earlier Friday, c ars were turned around at the Summit exit and drivers sent back to where they started after sitting in mountain traffic for hours. On Friday, The highway was closed again.

“The landslide is unstable,” said CHP officer Trista Drake, “We are kinda watching it, Caltrans is watching it to make sure that it’s not going to topple down.

Amber Wood was planning to go to Boulder Creek from San Jose and ended up spending most of her Friday afternoon waiting.

“I had enough gas to get here normally, and I didn’t expect this, and I ran out of gas right here,” Wood said.

Wood was still at the half way point almost six hours later.

“I’ve been waiting all day long for someone to bring me gas, because every way they took to get here was closed so they had to back track all day long and they still haven’t arrived yet,” Wood said.

With many roads washed out or covered by mudslides, downed trees, or power lines, Wood said it’s nearly impossible to get into the Santa Cruz area.

“This is madness, and people have just been not listening to the directions of the road and just going, only to turn around and come back,” Wood said.

Wood said she also saw some residents out helping direct traffic earlier in the day, and drivers were thankful to have the help.

As of Friday night, northbound lanes of Highway 17 remain closed at Granite Creek, and CHP said they’re not sure when they will reopen.

UPDATE 2/10/2017 7:00 p.m.: Southbound lanes of Highway 17 at Summit Road are back open after a mudslide shut down the highway for most of the day.

Caltrans crews are now working to open a northbound lane at Granite Creek Road in Scotts Valley by noon Saturday.

UPDATE 2/10/2017 05:10 p.m.: It’s been a tough week for Highway 17 mudslides, an investigation, drivers trapped for hours and now, a massive slide has taken over the main artery and no one can get through.

Highway 17 connects Santa Cruz to the South Bay, making it a densely traveled route.

The massive slide shut down Highway 17 in both directions, leaving drivers without access to Santa Cruz or San Jose.

Cal OSHA approved clean up and stabilization of the slide to continue after Thursday’s fatal accident involving a construction worker. But officials said working on it is still unsafe.

If you decide to brave Highway 17, expect to be detoured. More than likely, you will run into traffic on sidestreets, road slipouts and closures.

The easiest and fastest way to access San Jose or the Watsonville area is through Highway 101.

PREVIOUS STORY: Scotts Valley Police Department said the gate between south Navarro Drive and Green Hills has been opened to allow an alternate access route to drivers.

The intersection of Granite Creek Road and Santas Village Road is severely congested due to all northbound Highway 17 traffic being diverted off at Granite Creek.

There is still no estimated time on when Highway 17 will reopen.

PREVIOUS STORY: Highway 17 will be closed northbound at Granite Creek Road and southbound at Summit Road because of slide danger, according to the Santa Cruz CHP.

CHP said alternate routes are Soquel San Jose Road south to Watsonville or north to Half Moon Bay.

PREVIOUS STORY: Scotts Valley police and California Highway Patrol are advising drivers to avoid Highway 17 on Friday.

Officers said the highway is closed in both directions between Summit and Granite Creek Road.

There isn’t an estimated time when it will reopen.

We will continue to update this story when more information becomes available.