Big Sur's Highway 1, Rebuilt On Top Of Landslide, To Open By End Of July
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Highway 1, the picturesque coastal road devastated by last year's deluge of rain and subsequent mudslides, could reopen in time for a road trip this summer.
The collapse of a hillside in an area called Mud Creek covered a third of a mile of road and drastically changed the Big Sur coastline immediately last May. The slide dumped more than 1 million tons of rock and dirt onto the scenic road between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Big Sur, a popular tourist destination on California's Central Coast, has been devastated by drought, wildfire, then heavy rain in recent years. Last year's rainstorms washed out bridges, damaged roads, and caused landslides that cut off access to some areas of Big Sur.
Instead of trying to clear the road of the rock and dirt, Caltrans decided to build on top of the new landscape to the tune of $54 million.
It's official: #Hwy1 at Mud Creek south of #BigSur will RE-OPEN by end of July. Big thanks to John Madonna Construction for tireless repair work & the SLO County north coast that's been impacted by the largest slide ever in Big Sur. We are on the road, literally, to recovery! pic.twitter.com/gcUq3WBBO4
— Caltrans District 5 (@CaltransD5) June 12, 2018
Caltrans says the highway at Mud Creek will reopen by the end of July.