LANDSLIDE REPAIRS LINGER.
Monterey’s portion of Highway 1 received a special present in October for its 80th birthday: the new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, which restored vehicular access to most of Big Sur from the north. Yet residents and visitors will have to wait for the highway’s 81st birthday, or longer, for Caltrans to rebuild the road across the massive, still-active Mud Creek slide some 37 miles south of the new span.
The Mud Creek slide blocks access to San Simeon in San Luis Obispo County, forcing southbound drivers to head inland via the infamously winding Nacimiento-Fergusson Road across the Santa Lucia Range to Highway 101. Paul’s Slide, some 13 miles north of Mud Creek and 24 miles south of Pfeiffer Canyon, also remains active but has a temporary stoplight to allow for one-way alternating traffic.
Winter storms and landslides have a long history of wreaking havoc on roadways in the rugged area. In 1932, iconic Bixby Bridge provided the first all-weather access to Big Sur from Monterey when it opened along what was then called Route 56. Previously, winter storms would wash out narrow canyon roads.
After years of start-and-stop construction, the stretch of Highway 1 from the Carmel River to San Simeon opened in 1937. Since then, “at least 100 different slides from south of Mud Creek to Carmel have been active one time or another,” says Susana Cruz, Caltrans spokeswoman for the region.
“The majority of them have not been catastrophic, but there are many slides, and the locals know it,” Cruz says. “They also know it’s a scenic highway and a beautiful place to live.”
For current road conditions, visit www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/ roads.cgi.