Power restoration continues as police say Natividad Road is back open after Wednesday crash

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) -- Salinas Police say Natividad Road is back open after a crash on Wednesday that left thousands without power.

As of Thursday morning, PG&E is reporting around 500 people are still without power along the edge of Natividad Road.

The road closure initially stretched from Saratoga to Boronda Road.

PG&E says power is expected to be restored around 9 am.

Highway 101 back open, thousands still without power in Monterey County

Power has been restored for thousands as of Wednesday night, but there are still just over 2,700 homes without power late on Wednesday, power restoration currently set for just past midnight.

Neighbors say that Natividad road is a dangerous one, with this far from the first time powerlines have been brought down by a bad driver. One local living in the home underneath the fallen pole says that before she bought the home, a powerline had fallen into the home's backyard. Many now wondering what it will take for the city to take action to improve traffic safety on Natividad Road.

Highway 101 has reopened in both directions at North Main Street in Salinas.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Numerous power outages throughout Monterey County have left thousands without power after a car impacted transmission lines near Highway 101.

According to PG&E, a car driving near North Main Street and Highway 101 hit transmission lines, causing a small fire nearby. That fire has since been put out.

PG&E is on scene assessing the damage wth Highway 101 shut down in both directions.

Transmission lines are larger lines that connect and power other communities, such as Carmel Valley. Power lines only affect portions of cities and towns near those power poles.

According to PG&E's outage map, more than 17,000 people are without power in Monterey as of 3:10 p.m.

Parts along the coast from Andrew Molera State Park down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park are without power, along with Carmel Valley and near Fort Ord National Monument.

There is no estimated time of restoration.

Another part of Salinas is also without power near Creekbridge and Natividad Road. The estimated restoration time of that area is expected to be 5:45 p.m.