Highway 9 at Holiday Slide set to reopen on Friday

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif, (KION-TV)- UPDATE ON MARCH 30, 2023 AT 5:02 PM- Caltrans announced that Highway 9 at Holiday Slide is expected to open on Friday morning at 10 a.m.

That part of the Highway has been closed since the January storms caused slides and water to come on the roadway. Since then, crews have been focused on debris removal, drainage management and rebuilding a damaged retaining wall.

Highway 9 at Holiday Slide was scheduled to open on March 17 but got pushed back again due to the recent March winter storms.

Crews will have a temporary signal system in place to provide one-way traffic control as additional repair work continues.

Drivers should expect delays on the road as a second temporary signal system is already in place on Highway 9 just south of this location.

Highway 9 at Holiday Slide set to reopen on March 17

If you want to drive on Highway 9 then you will have to wait until St. Patrick's Day.

Caltrans announced that Highway 9 at Holiday Slide will be scheduled to reopen on March 17. The highway was scheduled to reopen on Saturday but has been delayed with the wet conditions on the road.

A full closure of Highway 9 is in effect between lower Glen Arbor Road and Holiday Lane due a slide caused by the storms.

Caltrans said that groundwater continues to flow out the slope face, washing slide material down with it to the highway.

Horizontal and vertical drains have been installed on the slope to intercept the ground water. Engineers and geologists continue to work on solutions to these wet conditions.

Workers will need to finish rebuilding the retaining wall and to temporarily stabilize the hillside above the roadway. Officials will be determining a permanent solution for the slope.

When the highway reopens, there will be a temporary signal system installed to provide one-way traffic control as repair work continue.

There will be a detour on Glen Arbor Rd. and all businesses in and around Ben Lomond remain open.