Hwy 131 Update - Before and After

BEFORE {July 2011}To say "before" is not quite accurate, as this "before" photo was taken after the road had already began to slide.  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of the road before it began to slide for the obvious reasons: Until it actually began to slip away it didn't seem photo worthy.  It was just a road!  When this photo was taken the road crew was still patching the crack with blacktop on at least a weekly basis.  Every time they'd put a patch on 24 hours later it would open up again.  This hillside clearly had plans of its own.

AFTER {September 2011}
The only word that came to mind while standing at the edge of this mess was, "WOW."  It has been amazing to see the progression of this slide.  To say this is an "after" photo though would not quite accurate here either, as "after" will be once the road is actually repaired and functional again -- If we are lucky (according to the road department) sometime in November of this year.  This really is just a stop along the way.  In this photo you can see the new "rock buttress" that's been constructed to the left intended to stop the slide (reported to be working) and support the new road project.  No word yet as to who will be building the new section of road.  I heard recently emergency vehicles will have an alternative road to access Oceanside from Netarts once the actual road repair gets underway.  That makes me think we are stuck with this situation for a quite a while longer, but thank goodness they have an alternative.  To make myself feel better about this situation I am going to plan on the road not being open until sometime next year, then when it actually opens in November I will be pleasantly surprised.  My hope is a year from now we will look back and it will seem like this never happened!  I can't wait to see how it turns out!