Highway 168 open again after rockslide closed mountain route in eastern Fresno County

Highway 168 was reopened Wednesday morning following a rockslide that closed the four-lane portion of the road in the eastern Fresno County foothills.

Caltrans installed a K-Rail to route drivers around the fallen rocks and the highway was open to one-way traffic with a pace vehicle as of 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The highway, the primary route to Shaver Lake and Huntington Lake in the High Sierra, had been shut down to traffic at around 2,500 feet in elevation since the rockslide Saturday afternoon.

“We are working diligently on a plan to safely open the roadway,” Caltrans District 6 reported in an update on social media Tuesday evening.

A team of Caltrans geologists was brought in Tuesday to assess the slide area.

In addition to putting in the K-Rail barrier, work included the District 6 scaling team scaling the mountainside while clearing loose rocks.

CHP on Wednesday morning said that there may be delays still on the highway as crews continue work, and weather could continue to be a factor.



The latest storm arrived in the area Wednesday morning, and the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through Thursday.

In addition to the closure of Highway 168, travel in the area has been restricted with the closing of Auberry Road on Monday night due to erosion on parts of the road. Fresno County on Tuesday said it anticipated those repairs, in the Alder Springs area, to take 14 days.

Motorists heading up and down the mountain in the area had been limited to only the winding Tollhouse Road.