Hwy. 1 slide update: Caltrans installs cable nets to prevent falling rocks
Crews continue making progress in stabilizing Regent’s Slide on Highway 1, Caltrans said Wednesday, giving an update on work at the troublesome cliff face that’s contributed to a nearly three-year closure along the Big Sur Coast. of that stretch of the All-American Road and National Scenic Byway.
The state road agency still estimates a spring 2026 reopening for through travel from Cambria to the Monterey Bay area, maybe as early as late March.
That timing depends on various influences, of course, the most significant of which is weather, because heavy rains can unleash more slides in the geologically unstable area.
Visitors, residents and area businesses hope the estimate holds, especially after the devastating financial effects the region has endured.
Study results released late last month estimated affected businesses had been clobbered to the tune of more than $430 million to date.
Cable-net drapery system and more shear dowels are making a difference
In a new development, Caltrans said, “crews have begun installing and threading a new cable-net drapery system designed to contain and control rockfall.”
“The installation process is going smoothly and is ahead of schedule,” Caltrans said, lauding the coordination efforts between contractors and field teams.
The systems are designed to prevent rock falls from reaching the roadway or any other areas being protected.
In a designated area over the ridge in the slide area, detailed rock work is happening in the bench area by the main “spider” excavator.
Crews also are continuing to place “shear dowels” deep into the lower-bench area.
Their use is to counteract continued slides off the face of the cliff. That continuing hazard has been an issue since the Regent’s Slide cascaded down the expanse Feb. 9, 2024, burying the highway under tons of rock, mud and debris that oozed down the steep hillside onto the highway surface below and further down to the sea.
Previous slides had closed the famous tourism drive for overlapping periods starting in January 2023.
Despite Caltrans’ early research and efforts, the Regent’s Slide area just kept on sliding and sloughing off, endangering crews and equipment while extending the closure.
For a time, it wasn’t safe for anybody to be in the area.
Then Caltrans started using huge, remotely controlled excavating equipment, innovative construction devices that allowed work to resume without endangering crew members in those tenuous conditions.
The continuing steel reinforcement from the 4,443 shear dowels helps anchor the fragile slope, enhancing its stability, Caltrans said.
Meanwhile, businesses continue hanging on, hoping to survive the often slow first few months of 2026, as residents yearn to have their jobs start up again soon and visitors want to travel along the scenic route between San Simeon and Big Sur to Carmel.
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This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM.
