Stretch of PCH in Ventura County might not reopen until Tuesday

Mud and rock slides forced the closure Sunday of a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County, and officials said the road might not reopen until Tuesday.

The slides prompted traffic tie-ups on the rain-slick roadway as the first wave of a winter storm drenched coastal and mountain areas in Southern California, officials said.

PCH was closed between Las Posas Road and Yerba Buena Road in southern Ventura County, and also a portion of Deer Creek Road between Yerba Buena and Cotharin roads, said Mike Lindbery, a spokesman with the Ventura County Fire Department.

The closure is expected to last all day Monday and possibly into Tuesday, Caltrans spokesman Patrick Chandler said Sunday night.

The slide area was burned during the Springs fire in May, 2013, leaving it with little vegetation to hold the hillside in place, Chandler said.

The only access to the highway is for people within the debris area to get out, Lindbery said.

Tumbling mud and rocks left 10 to 15 cars stranded at Sycamore Cove on the southern end of Point Mugu State Park, the California Highway Patrol reported. Two to three feet of mud and debris poured onto the highway near Mugu Rock and east to Deer Creek Road.

The CHP began closing roads on Sunday afternoon as sliding mud and other debris began falling onto the coastal highway.

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Times staff writer Garrett Therolf contributed to this report.