Highway 1 Reopens Ahead of Schedule, Making Way for Big Sur Travel Ahead of Summer

Highway 1 has reopened to regular traffic, thanks to a new signal system that will allow traffic to flow in one direction at a time past the area where a rockslide made part of the roadway disappear in late March.

You can now get into Big Sur again as a non-resident, without needing to join a twice-daily convoy. Caltrans announced the reopening of Highway 1 Friday, eight days ahead of schedule, and posted video of cars passing by the Rocky Creek Bridge where the “slipout” occurred on March 30.

That slipout, or rockslide at the cliff edge of the road, stranded around 1,600 people over Easter weekend, and Highway 1 was subsequently closed to traffic for six weeks — save for the morning and afternoon convoys that let residents in and out for supplies, etc.

“All systems are go!” Caltrans tweeted Friday morning.

The temporary fix to the damaged section of Highway 1 was expected to be completed by Memorial Day Weekend, and has been finished early. For now, a traffic light will allow southbound and northbound traffic to flow past the damaged section one at a time, using a single lane.

A permanent fix to the damaged southbound lane of the roadway will be completed next spring.

“Highway 1 is the jewel of the California highway system and our crews have been working non-stop for the last month and a half so Californians can have unrestricted access to this iconic area of our state,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares in a statement.

“Crews have been working day and night to quickly repair the damage to Highway 1 caused by recent storms, which has disrupted the lives of individuals living in and around Big Sur – limiting access to the area and hampering tourism,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “Thanks to the diligent efforts, traffic will resume eight days ahead of schedule – bringing relief and a sense of normalcy back to one of California’s most iconic coastal communities.”

Travelers can now access Big Sur from the north, however a rockslide-damaged section of Highway 1 remains completely closed about 40 miles south of Monterey, just past the Esalen Institute. That closure has been in effect since early 2023, and those coming from the south have had to take a three-hour detour to get to Big Sur.

Residents of the area are no strangers to being stranded and semi-stranded from the larger world, as Highway 1 has a habit of being hit hard by land movement, particularly in the winter and spring after heavy rains.

A massive landslide in May 2017, called the biggest in state history, engulfed a section of the highway south of Big Sur, and the process to get the road reopened after that disaster took over a year.

Previously: Road Collapse On Highway 1 Strands Around 1,600 People In Big Sur Over Holiday Weekend