LAKEPORT, Calif. – Nearly eight months after it reopened, part of Hill Road was closed to through traffic once again because of a mudslide.
The Lake County Department of Public Works said the road between the entrance of Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Lakeshore Boulevard was closed as of Monday afternoon.
Officials gave no estimate for when it will reopen.
Mud came down off the hill above the road following the heavy rains of the last few days, a situation similar to that which closed the road last December.
In that case, the road wasn't finally cleared until the end of April, as Lake County News has reported.
Part of the road's issues stems from the same landslide that for nearly three years has impacted the Lakeside Heights subdivision, which sits on a hill above the road and across from the hospital.
Lakeside Heights residents and the county are engaged in a lawsuit over the landslide.
Subdivision residents weren't warned of this latest closure, just like they weren't notified beforehand of the closure a year ago, said Lakeside Heights resident Garey Hurn.
Sutter Lakeside Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson said Lake County Public Works notified the hospital on Monday of the impending road closure.
“It's really not going to impact the hospital at all,” Nelson said, explaining the hospital was aware of the county's plan to close the road again if problems arose.
The road closure means that people trying to access Sutter Lakeside Hospital will have to come either from the direction of Park Way or through the emergency exit from Mendocino Community Health Clinic, as was the case earlier, said Nelson.
“We're fine,” she said of the road closure. “We're not worried about it.
Nelson said that earlier this year the hospital installed speed bumps on the roads that travel through its campus to keep vehicle speeds down because of the first closure.
She said those speed bumps have been left in place for safety purposes.
Nelson asked anyone coming to the hospital to please drive slowly through the parking lot.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
County closes portion of Hill Road due to mudslide
- Elizabeth Larson
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