[PRpond]
A series of mudslides on Friday afternoon shut down Highway 50 in both directions. The 2nd mudslide began around 4:25 Friday afternoon. Echo Summit local Joey Anderson said, “There was a little slide when I came down around 3 o’clock. It was blocking one lane of traffic.” Near Kyburz, Caltrans was trying to clear another large mudslide about 3:40 p.m. Friday, officials said.
A jeep was in the middle of the mudslide. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The driver of the car, Christina Aroloa, added “It slid us across two lanes of traffic and no cars coming the other way."“We hit the guard rail and the jeep started tilting to a 45 degree angle. Luckily then, two trees stopped us from flipping over down to the American River,” Linquist said.
Now cleanup crews are facing an estimated 4,000 yards of large boulders and trees spread across the road.
“We’re going to start eating our way into it with excavators and loaders, getting the stuff mucked out and hauled off,” said Matt Veerkamp, vice president of Doug Veerkamp General Engineering.
Veerkamp’s company has been contracted by Caltrans to clear the road. He estimated there are about 2,500 yards of debris on the road and 1,500 yards still on the hill.
A CHP spokesperson estimated the clean up to take anywhere from 24 to 36 hours at best to get the road clear. But Veerkamp told CBS 13 the timeline on when this will all be clear depends on where his crews can take this debris.
“If it’s close, we might be able to get this cleaned up by the weekend,” Veerkamp said. “If we have to start trucking this stuff out of the canyon, it could be into next week. We’ll go as fast as we can.”
UPDATE at 6:21 P.M.: Caltrans says that Highway 50 is closed from Pollock Pines to Meyers due to a mudslide. There is no access from eastbound Highway 50, and local residents seeking access from westbound Highway 50 will be required to show identification.
El Dorado County officials do not expect Highway 50 near Ice House to reopen until Saturday.
