Highway 59 indefinitely closed; trees fall as rains, winds continue

A stretch of Highway 59 south of Merced remains closed for the foreseeable future and road crews are preparing for additional flooding and closures as more rain was expected to pelt the San Joaquin Valley.

Merced city crews have worked clean-up duties this week after high winds knocked down trees and power lines.

As of Thursday morning, about six miles of Highway 59 was closed due to weather and road conditions. Warren Alford of the state Department of Transportation said reopening the route depends on Mariposa Creek water levels falling to the point where the flow isn’t touching the Highway 59 bridge.

“Our goal is to get the route open as soon as it’s determined safe,” Alford said. “Our guys are doing some proactive work to make sure roads stay safe.”

Another set of heavy showers with lower temperatures was expected to arrive by early Friday and could dump up to three-quarters of an inch of rain before clearing up early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

A second storm system may arrive Sunday or Monday and could drop an additional inch of rain.

Highway 59 has been closed since Jan. 9, when torrential rainfall started to flood several roads.

Motorists wishing to travel south on Highway 59 from Merced are advised to detour by turning west on West Dickenson Ferry Road, turning south on South Gurr Road and taking it to West Sandy Mush Road, turning east and continuing to Highway 59.

The area of Childs Avenue at Highway 59 was closed for part of Wednesday night, a common occurrence, said Mike Conway, assistant to the Merced City Manager.

However, Childs Avenue was open Thursday, he said.

But flooding isn’t the only issue keeping public works crews busy.

Winds of up to 51 mph were recorded in the county Tuesday, according to Christine Riley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

Winds Wednesday night spun between 25 mph and 40 mph, knocking down trees and power lines, officials said.

Merced resident Melin Narayan was headed west around 6 p.m. on Olive Avenue near the Merced Mall when his car struck a tree that had fallen into the roadway.

“I was driving and I looked at the road and there was nothing,” he said. “And then, all of the sudden, a tree appeared out of nowhere and, by the time I put my brake, I rammed against the tree.”

Narayan, 44, was not injured, but his car, a silver Honda sedan, sustained “quite a bit of damage,” he said.

Conway said city crews worked to remove 15 downed city trees Tuesday through Thursday.

AJ Destasio, collection worker for the city of Merced, said more than a week’s worth of steady rain has softened the ground and “any kind of wind event causes the trees just to fall.”

“They’re just weaker than they usually are,” Destasio said. “Typically, every storm cycle has a tree or two that will go down.”

Pacific, Gas & Electric company has reported about seven small power outages in Merced, affecting fewer than 50 people in total.

“Anytime there is rain and wind like we have right now, they should really just slow down,” Destasio said. “This tree was in a real dark area and, if you're going too fast, you're not going to avoid it.”

Rob Parsons contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Highway 59 indefinitely closed; trees fall as rains, winds continue."