Los Angeles

Caltrans Eyes End of July for Reopening Highway 1 in Big Sur

California transportation officials are targeting July for reopening a stretch of iconic Highway 1 in the scenic Big Sur coastal region that was blocked last year by a massive landslide.

The crucial road that connects Los Angeles to San Francisco was projected to open in mid-September but Caltrans announced Tuesday it will open to all travelers by the end of July.

"Rebuilding Highway 1 and restoring traffic along the Big Sur coast has been our priority and by opening the highway sooner than expected, it will boost the many central coast communities affected by this major landslide," said Caltrans Acting District 5 Director Richard Rosales.

Highway 1 has been dogged by slides since December 2016, but the one that hit at Mud Creek near Ragged Point in May 2017 was monumental. Millions of tons of earth moved, displacing 75 acres of land.

The debris slid well out into the ocean, creating 15 acres of new coastline about 9 miles north of the Monterey-San Luis Obispo county line.

Caltrans has since been working to stabilize the slide in order to rebuild the highway over it. The $54 million project included building a massive rock seawall at the foot of the slide.

This strategy is allowing Caltrans to rebuild the roadway more quickly and at a lower cost than other alternatives such as structures, a tunnel or major earthwork that puts additional fill into the ocean, Caltrans said.

The work is being done about 25 miles south of where another segment of the highway was blocked when a storm-spawned landslide wrecked a bridge in early 2017. Last October, Caltrans opened a replacement span designed without support columns that could be vulnerable to future slides.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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