More of Highway 1 opens to public near Big Sur after slides
More of Highway 1 opened to the public on Feb. 10 as Caltrans crews continued to clean up debris from winter landslides.
The northern end of the closure moved about five miles south from Lime Creek to Big Creek Vista Point, according to a Caltrans news release. That’s about 27 miles north of the border between Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties,
On Feb. 8, Caltrans moved the southern perimeter of the closure from the elephant seal viewing area, located four miles north of San Simeon, to Ragged Point, about seven miles north of Piedras Blancas Light Station.
“Travelers on southbound Highway 1 at the Big Creek Vista Point will encounter signs indicating that the road farther south is closed except to travel by locals,” Caltrans said in the release.
The scenic stretch of Highway 1 has been closed to traffic since severe storms slammed into the Central Coast in January. The Polar Star slide came first on Jan. 4, followed by Paul’s Slide on Jan. 14 and the Mill Creek slide on Jan. 15.
This week, Caltrans will work on cleaning up more of the road, with the goal of moving the northern closure another five miles south, approaching the long-term closure at Paul’s Slide, the agency said.
Highway 1 was slated to open from Ragged Point to south of the Mill Creek Slide by Feb. 12, Caltrans previously said.
For updates, follow Caltrans’ District 5 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Find out more about road closures at quickmap.dot.ca.gov.
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 5:37 PM.
