Last weekend’s heavy rain in the Big Sur area caused emergency officials to issue another closure along highway 1.
Late Saturday afternoon, CalTrans officials began to receive reports that Highway 1 lost a piece of its southbound lane just south of Rocky Creek Bridge.
CalTrans representative Kevin Drabinski said engineers arrived on the scene Sunday morning to inspect the roadway.
“It was very pleasant to discover that the erosion beneath the roadway had remained in place from where it was the night before. So it was static, and it hadn’t continued to erode into the northbound lane which was a grave concern for us,” Drabinski said.
Drabinski said about 1600 people were stranded in the area because of the closure and a convoy led cars through the highway Sunday and Monday.
Convoys are now only allowed for residents and essential workers.
Drabinski said CalTrans will continue to monitor the highway’s damage but there is no timeline yet for a full reopening.
Meanwhile, the rains also caused California State Parks to issue refunds and cancel camping reservations for people visiting parks in the area
That includes Pfeiffer Big Sur, Andrew Molera, Limekiln, Julia Pfeiffer Burns and Point Sur State Parks.
Crews continue to clean up the highway at Dolan Point Slide and Paul’s Slide, which is south of the recent closure. Those closures are expected to reopen this spring.
