UPDATE: Rock Slide at Capo Beach/San Clemente Border Closes Coast Highway

By Andrea Swayne

Update: Coast Highway reopened shortly before 7:30 p.m.

Coast Highway in the Capistrano Beach area of Dana Point, between Camino Capistrano and Palisades Drive, is closed temporarily while crews assess the stability of the bluff wall following a slide, authorities said.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. Thursday a boulder roughly the size of a trashcan broke loose from the slope behind a San Clemente home atop the bluff just north of Camino Capistrano and crashed down to Coast Highway, said Brad Fowler, public works director for the city of Dana Point.

“Most of the boulder broke up on the way down and was contained behind the K-rail,” Fowler said. “The closure is mainly in the interest of exercising an abundance of caution. We want to make sure nothing else is in jeopardy of sliding. If nothing else comes down, or looks threatening of a slide, we hope to reopen the road within the next hour or so.”

There appears to be no danger to the home, he added.

As of 7 p.m. the closure remained in effect.