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Published: Saturday, Apr. 16, 2011

Big Sur highway closure to last a month at south end, but north end to reopen

One door closes, another one opens for road on rugged coast

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The latest rockslide is at Alder Creek at the south end of Big Sur.

By Tribune staff report

It will take a month to clear a new landslide off Highway 1 at Alder Creek, at the south end of Big Sur, but the north end will reopen to traffic at 5 p.m. today at Rocky Creek, Caltrans announced Friday.

One lane of the highway will be open nightly north of Bixby Creek Bridge where part of the highway slipped into the sea March 16. The northern closure is about 60 miles north of the Monterey/San Luis Obispo county line and about 12 miles south of Carmel.

The road will close again at 8 a.m. each day to allow repair work to continue and reopen to traffic at 8 p.m. nightly starting Sunday. There will not be a weight or length limit on vehicles.

The most recent closure at the south end is due to a hillside sliding onto the highway on Thursday about 7 miles north of the county line and 3 miles south of Gorda.

The southern slide is larger than a slide there on March 27, Caltrans said. The prior slide at Alder Creek took five days to clear enough to allow for a partial reopening.

Nacimiento Fergusson Road is open as an alternate route from King City to Big Sur, but Caltrans and CHP advise against any unnecessary travel over the narrow, winding, mountainous road, especially at night.

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