Spanning 656 miles from Las Cruces to Leggett, California, Highway 1 leading to Big Sur reopened in early January after three years of being closed due to severe landslides near the Big Sur area. The highway marks itself as the longest route in
California and the second longest in the continental U.S.: reaching down over 60 percent of the iconic California coast.
After landslides in January of 2023 and 2024 due to severe rainstorms, along with the collapse of a lane near Rocky Creek Bridge in Carmel, CA, Highway 1, also known as Cabrillo Highway and Pacific Coast Highway, was shut down for repairs and wouldn’t reopen for another three years.
Fortunately, the reopening came three months ahead of the intended date in March, aligning with the warm weather of the approaching spring and summer seasons.
“I see it as a tourist attraction, especially since it’s just reopened. It’s not new, but it feels new because people haven’t been able to take [some parts of] this highway in, what seems like, forever,” senior Navella Moreno said.
In January, after its reopening, Moreno and her friend took the highway on their way to Monterey Bay while traveling. They stopped at McWay Falls, 13 miles south of Big Sur, CA. Moreno noticed roadwork on the shoulders of the lanes however no active roadwork was going on; she also experienced little traffic on the highway throughout the trip.
The cause of numerous landslides lies in the geological aspects of where the highway is located. Professor of Earth Sciences at University California Santa Cruz, Gary Griggs, mentions how the area is extremely active because of the constant collisions of tectonic plates. The San Andreas Fault takes a sharp turn near Big Sur, explaining the landslides closer to that area. When intense pressure and steep coastal cliffs mix, the result are landslides that need hours of maintenance and repair on the road itself.
However, with the recent heavy rainfall in mid February, new debris and mudslides caused a closure at Regent’s Slide, located 5 miles north of Lucia, CA; and to deal with the complications of having one lane roads, traffic control, if possible, is the common solution to keep individuals on the highway without being rerouted.
