PCH Crack Gets Plastic Tarp As Officials Prepare For Rain, Powerful Tides

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Caltrans crews are scrambling to prepare a south Orange County hillside from rain and damaging tides, after a massive crack appeared in the bluff beneath Pacific Coast Highway near Laguna Beach.

Caltrans has closed one southbound lane of the highway between Irvine Cove and Reef Point Drive for emergency work near Crystal Cove State Park for the past few weeks.

"For the safety of the traveling public and the workers on the roadway, we ask that the public follow all detour and speed limit signs in the area," Caltrans spokesperson Christianne Smith told the Los Angeles Times.

Laguna Beach local Blair Conklin, who originally captured footage of the growing damage in a YouTube video, posted to social media this weekend to give the public an update on the crack.

"We had Caltrans putting a bunch of plastic tarps to prepare for the rain coming," Conklin said in his video. "I think that's the only thing that the tarp is probably going to be good for."

Conklin noted that it didn't appear the tarp would protect the fractured hillside from the forecasted rain.

Laguna Beach City Manager Dave Kiff took to social media to update residents about what steps Caltrans will take to rectify the cracked hillside.

"Caltrans has their best people on it, I'm convinced of that," Kiff said. "I've been talking directly with the district director here in Orange County who talks directly with her supervisors in Sacramento. This has gotten the attention of the whole Caltrans organization to make sure that the road is safe."

According to Kiff, the three-stage plan to buttress the slope includes: applying plastic tarp to the hillside, installing large boulders or rip-rap at the base and working on how to best re-design the slope for long-term retention.