Highway 1 reopens near Big Sur ‘ahead of schedule and on budget’
Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the reopening of Highway 1 near Big Sur on Friday, nearly three months after debris flows sent part of the scenic roadway plunging into the ocean.
“This is a moment of deep pride,” he said at a news conference at Rat Creek. “We have a relationship with our coast that is unique … we have resolve, we have commitment” to keep it open and in a good condition.
“There just ain’t anything else like this, anywhere else in the world,” Newsom quipped, noting the importance of the iconic stretch of Highway 1 between Cambria and Carmel.
As of noon Friday, vehicles are once again allowed to travel on the 5-mile stretch of road that had been closed since late January, when a torrential rainstorm overwhelmed drainage systems under the pavement, resulting in a mudslide.
About 150 feet of pavement and the cliff supporting it tumbled into the sea.
At Friday’s ceremony, Newsom joined officials including Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin, Congressman Jimmy Panetta, Monterey County Supervisor Mary Adams and representatives of the California Highway Patrol, Big Sur Chamber of Commerce and Monterey County Visitors Bureau in celebrating Highway 1’s reopening.
Sam Farr, who represented the Central Coast in Congress from 1993 to 2017,called Highway 1 “probably the most political highway in California.”
After representing the area legislatively for 44 years, “I’ve never seen a repair done so quickly” as the Rat Creek roadway fix, Farr said.
He noted that his father, Fred Farr, blocked moves to include Highway 1 in the state’s freeway master plan and made it the first scenic highway in the United States instead.
It was an overcast day at low tide with no wind and not a whitecap in sight. Despite the lack of rain, there was bright optimism at the event.
Caltrans and contractor crews worked seven days a week during daylight hours to bring the $11.5 million project to the point where the road could reopen — two months earlier than previously expected.
Noting that politicians love to say “we got something done ahead of schedule and on budget,” Newsom said it twice for emphasis.
Newsom said that more than $6 million had been spent just to fix the 150-foot gap in the Rat Creek pavement and the supporting bluff, and to improve the infrastructure there.
According to Omishakin, the old culvert under the roadway at Rat Creek had been in place since 1933. The new repair project includes four culverts, he said, reducing the likelihood of a repeat disaster there.
On Friday, Newsom and other speakers effusively praised the people who have done the heavy lifting on the project.
He also teased Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins, whose crews have worked for 86 straight days, dawn to dusk, to repair the roadway.
“Tim, I guess you’re willing to give them the weekend off,” Newsom joked. “But you’ll have them back here Monday to finish the damn job.”
Some chores still need to be completed — such as installation of redundant drainage systems under the pavement, but that work can be done while the road is open. Some traffic limitations, such as reversing one-way traffic with flaggers controlling the flow, will continue.
Delays of up to 10 minutes would not be unusual, according to Caltrans.
After the ribbon cutting, there were about 30 cars lined up at the south end of the previous closure, about 3 miles south of the Rat Creek area, waiting to head north.
The reopening of Highway 1 will be a boon to those whose lives and livelihoods have been curtailed by the closure of the popular All-American Highway link between the Central Coast and the Monterey peninsula.
“Reopening Highway 1 at Rat Creek less than three months after a washout of this magnitude is great news for residents, recreationalists, business owners and those who move goods through this region,” Omishakin has said. “Caltrans has been focused on the emergency work needed to increase the resiliency of this highway section to extreme weather and the fixes made will allow for safe travel.”
As Caltrans District 5 spokesman Jim Shivers told The Tribune in March, “The state highway system is here to enhance the economy … When this highway is reopened, then we’ve done our part in enhancing the economy and allowing California to have a transportation system that works for them.”
During his 15-minute talk on Friday, Newsom used a couple of quotes to illustrate how he and many others feel about Highway 1.
“We are truly blessed by this coast of dreams, blessed to see this highway back and operational and back on its feet” at the same time the state “is getting back on its feet,” Newsom said.
Acknowledging that the tourism and hospitality industries have been hard hit, Newsom pledged that “this state will come roaring back,” adding that it is already on its way to doing so.
The governor also discussed climate change as well as the devastating Dolan Fire near Big Sur, the need for continued commitment to protect the environment and the state’s progress on combating the COVID-19 virus and getting Californians vaccinated.
In addition, Newsom talked about investing in infrastructure to make the entire 100-mile length of the fragile highway “more resilient.”
But he deflected questions about a potential recall election and Caitlyn Jenner’s run for California governor. The former Olympian turned reality TV star officially launched her bid for the governor’s seat on Friday morning.
Friday’s reopening ceremony marked Newsom’s second visit to the Central Coast in recent months.
In March, the governor held a news conference at a San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department coronavirus vaccination site at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, highlighting efforts to speed up the administering of COVID-19 vaccines.
This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 2:57 PM.
