Highway 1 to Big Sur reopens after crews clear rockslide
Highway 1 to Big Sur is open again after a rockslide on Oct. 27 closed a stretch of the scene road between Ragged Point and Gorda.
To reopen the highway, Caltrans crews removed an undermined rock outcrop and cleared more than 20 truckloads of dirt and rocks, according to a news release.
The rocks threatened Highway 1 after its slope sent dirt and smaller rocks onto the road near Salmon Creek on Wednesday morning, The Tribune reported in an earlier story.
A rainstorm that hit the Central Coast on Sunday night through Monday and a series of earthquakes that shook San Simeon on Monday may have contributed to the rockslide.
According to Caltrans spokeperson Kevin Drabinski, geotechnical teams say they may never know why the rockslide became active or how the weather impacted the site.
“The location of this rockslide has not been considered especially geologically active in the past,” Drabinski wrote in an email.
