Update: Traffic Alert: Roadway Flooding Due To Heavy Rain

CCF photo

Update at 4:10 p.m.: A large tree has toppled over on Heidi Lane off Italian Bar Road in the Columbia area of Tuolumne County. Saw crews are working in the flooded area to remove the tree, as can be seen in the photo.

Update at 1:20 p.m.: The CHP reports that a mud/dirt/rockslide on Highway 4 at the Tom Bell Road and Big Trees Road intersection is blocking the westbound lane and partially spreading into the eastbound lane.

Update at 11:54 a.m.:  After a rockslide last night shut down the west entrance to Yosemite National Park along Big Oak Flat Road/Highway 120 east of Foresta, park officials now report it has been cleared. The highway is reopened, and traffic is moving freely once again.

Update at 11:30 a.m.: A Calaveras County mobile home park has been evacuated. Calaveras County Sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Greg Stark tells Clarke Broadcasting that the pouring rain has forced residents of the Castle Rock Mobile Home Park near lower Lime Creek Road in Valley Springs out of their homes. He added that deputies have evacuated approximately 15 people from their homes. There is also flooding on Highway 26 at the Driver Road intersection near Baldwin Steet in Rancho Calaveras.  In Tuolumne County, more roadways have flooded, including the Yankee Hill Road and Sawmill Flat Road intersection in the Columbia area, Highway 49 at the Wilcox Ranch Road intersection in Tuttletown and Rawhide Road near the Highway 49 intersection. Further details on road flooding can be viewed below.

Update at 10:15 a.m.: There is some additional roadway flooding in the Mother Lode, causing traffic hazards. In Tuolumne County, the CHP reports that Highway 108 at the Via Este Road intersection in East Sonora has one lane flooded. South Fork Road at the Center Camp Road intersection in the Twain Harte area is also flooded. In Calaveras County, just before the Amador County line and the thirteen curves, the northbound lane of Highway 49 at the Del Orto Road intersection is flooded.

Original post at 9:15 a.m.: Sonora, CA – The CHP is warning motorists of flooding on several roadways in the Mother Lode this morning.

In Tuolumne County, CHP officers are directing traffic at the intersection of Highway 108 and Chicken Ranch Road due to a “slide” of some kind; they do not specify whether it is a rock or mudslide that is occurring. There is some flooding in the area of Wards Ferry Road and Tuolumne Road, west of Standard Road in Sonora. In the Groveland area, Smith Station Road is flooded near the Vic Canter Road intersection, south of Highway 120. Additionally, the CHP reports that there is a boulder in the 5100 block of O’Byrnes Ferry Road near the Sierra Conservation Center.

There is flooding in Calaveras County, in the Copperopolis area, along Highway 4 at the Bonanza Mine Road and Appaloosa Road intersections. Near the La Contenta Golf Course in Valley Springs, there are high waters at Highway 26 and the St. Andrews intersection, closing the highway to just east of Gold Creek Drive. Also in that area, Hogan Dam Road at the Highway 26 intersection has flooded, and Pardee Dam Road/Sandretto Road at the Campo Secor Road intersection near Pardee Reservoir and north of Highway 26 has been closed. In the Arnold area, near the Fly in Acres Reservoir, northeast of Highway 4, at the corner of Patricia Lane and Moran Road, the rising waters have forced the closure of Patricia Lane to traffic.

The CHP cautions drivers to stay off the roads if possible and remember to turn their headlights on in rain and snow.