Vital link to Highway 1 in Big Sur finally reopens after nearly 4 years
A road linking Highway 1 and Highway 101 through the Santa Lucia Range in Big Sur reopened Friday after being closed since January 2021.
Nacimiento-Fergusson Road extends about 25 miles from near Mill Creek — about 5 miles south of Lucia — to Fort Hunter Liggett. From there, drivers can connect to Jolon Road to head north or south to Highway 101.
“‘Naci-Ferguson’ was devastated at the same time Rat Creek suffered,” Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said in 2023. “The January 2021 storms took what was a bad road and made it worse.”
Getting the $30 million repairs done on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road took so long because the Los Padres National Forest had to assess the 16 damaged sites, create the work plans and get approval in hopes of getting federal funding, according to Andrew Madsen, Los Padres forest spokesman for the USDA Forest Service.
Damage to the 16 sites was diverse, including “washouts, extensive slides, debris flows and road failures,” according to the Forest Service website.
“We have thousands of miles of roads in five districts, and about $100,000 a year in our budget to fix them,” Madsen said. “With the help of Rep. Jimmy Panetta, we got the money from the Federal Highways Administration, but it took time.
“We’re very grateful for Panetta’s help,” Madsen continued, “and now he’s trying to help us get funding to rebuild the Nacimiento Ranger Station that burned down in the Dolan Fire.”
Replacing the station will be a $15 million project, Madsen said.
“We’re trying to identify a better location for it,” he said.
Road connecting major highways is essential but difficult
The years of roadwork have improved the roadway considerably, Madsen said.
That said, Nacimiento Fergusson Road is not an easy drive or a road for the timid or time-crunched driver.
In fact, its local nickname is “Nasty-Fergie Road.”
“Oh, yeah, many of us South Coasters call it Nasty,” Kate Novoa told The Tribune. A longtime resident, she’s often called “the voice of Big Sur.”
“It can be difficult for many reasons … weather and scared tourists who want to drive in the middle of the road around a blind curve are only two of the reasons,” she said. “It is only one-and-a-half lanes wide in places, so (there’s) no getting past another car coming the other direction.”
Madsen described it as a “gnarly, twisty road.”
“Basically just a thoroughfare between the two highways,” he said.
Madsen added that camping is not allowed along the road, and pulling over to take pictures “is not recommended” as some drivers take the steep, twisting road at higher speeds than they should, and there are lots of blind curves.
The road can be an essential link, however, for visitors who want to see as much of Big Sur as they can when parts of Highway 1 are closed for repairs, without having to loop back the way they came.
Having the road open will also be helpful to the heavily impacted local businesses who serve those visitors.
The road is also crucial for Big Sur residents.
“It is important as it can cut an hour or two off a trip north to doctors, etc.,” Novoa said. “Plus, we don’t have trash service, and the transfer station in King City is the closest place to take our trash.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 10:04 AM.
