Highway 1 Near Big Sur Reopens 14 Months After Massive Mudslide
BIG SUR, Monterey County (CBS SF) – Caltrans reopened state Highway 1 Wednesday morning at Mud Creek in Monterey County, where a massive landslide cut Big Sur off from the Central Coast and closed the roadway for nearly 14 months.
The roadway has been closed ever since a series of five landslides, which consolidated into one massive slide, covered up more than 1,500 feet of highway with more than 1 million tons of dirt and rock roughly 9 miles north of the San Luis Obispo County line in the evening hours of May 20, 2017.
Caltrans officials called it one of the largest landslides in state history.
The work is not yet complete and drivers may still find one-way traffic control in effect on weekdays - but crews were completing the final striping and inspection on Tuesday afternoon.
The new quarter-mile section of roadway was constructed more than 250 feet away from the original highway at an altitude of 150 to 260 feet above sea level on landslide material and compacted embankments.
The terrain was stabilized using berms, rocks, netting and culverts. In total, the project cost roughly $54 million, according to Caltrans.
A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the reconstructed roadway is scheduled at 11 a.m. Friday at the Ragged Point Inn, listed at 19019 Highway 1.
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