Highway 150 landslide impacts Ventura County five months later
More than five months after a landslide on Highway 150 in Ventura County, commuters are still experiencing a nightmare as they try to drive in Santa Paula and upper Ojai. But Caltrans said Wednesday some relief is in sight.
One lane will be available as soon as the end of the week after the heavy rainstorms of February led to a landslide the size of half a football field in length.
Tomaso Cammarota, who used to drive 10 minutes to get to work at Thomas Aquinas College, told KCAL the commute now consists of a walk around a mudslide. It can add an hour to the commute.
"We have a courier system to basically pick us up on the other side and drive us to the college," said Cammarota.
Store owners in the area said it is making it hard to find staffing, as potential employees are not willing to add so much time to their commutes.
Caltrans is drilling steel tie-black pipes through the mountain side and building a retaining wall to protect the road and homes nearby from future landslides.
"The unique thing about a soldier pile tie back wall is that the construction is from the top down," said Hussam Buran, a structure rep from Caltrans.
The complicated nature of the work means it is unclear exactly when Highway 150 will fully open again. The goal is to open the single lane again before school starts, Caltrans reps said.
