Repairs on Big Sur’s collapsed Highway 1 start this week. No telling when they will end

Fast Break

Grace Toohey April 8, 2024

Stabilization efforts are expected to begin this week on a stretch of Highway 1 in Big Sur where a portion of the roadway crumbled into the ocean last month temporarily stranding tourists and residents along the scenic central coast.

Since the collapse last month, travel has been severely limited for hundreds

of

residents now living between two sections of highway damaged by a series of landslides.

After installing some safety rails this weekend, California Department of Transportation officials said Monday that teams were staging equipment and finalizing plans to begin more extensive repair work this week.

Thats the first order of business, to stabilize that edge of the roadway,” said Kevin Drabinski, a

California Department of Transportation Caltrans

spokesperson.

On Tuesday, contractors for the state are expected to begin drilling vertical anchors in the damaged southbound lane, jump

–

starting the stabilization work, according to an update Sunday. Drabinski did not have further information on the details of the stabilization work.

Convoys helping to move stranded travelers after Highway 1 landslide near Big Sur

He said there is not yet a timeline for its completion, but he said he hopes officials will have an estimate later this week.

The slip-out on Highway 1 occurred just south of Rocky Creek Bridge, damaging a significant chunk of the cliff

–

side, southbound lane. Officials have since been able to open the northbound lane for limited, twice-a-day escorts, weather permitting. Drabinski said those

convoys, intended for residents and essential workers,

continue to run at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

, intended for residents and essential workers.

Officials have said the northbound lane was not affected by the land movement, but teams continue to monitor the stretch. Drabinski said Monday there have not been any noticeable changes since the initial slide.

Caltrans

teams this weekend installed concrete barriers along the highway’s center line and also added new temporary painted road lines to widen the northbound lane.

Big Sur to be cut off again as damaged Highway 1 threatened by rain

Th

e

partial roadway closure further limits access to the scenic highway through Big Sur,

which is

still recovering from other landslides last winter and earlier this season that closed a different stretch of the roadway about 40 miles south. The ongoing road damage in the

se

two locations has effectively closed an almost 40-mile stretch of the highway to the general public, a devastating blow for the area’s tourism-based economy.

Caltrans

officials hope to be able to fully open the northbound lane near Rocky Creek Bridge as soon as possible, with signalized, one-lane traffic.