On Friday morning, Caltrans crews cleaned up the remaining mud and debris on Highway 1 in Big Sur caused by recent rainstorms. As of 4 p.m. Friday, the highway is open once again.
“A lot of dirt has washed off the slope at Regent's Slide. The slope itself is stable but we disturbed enough dirt there that it will continue to wash down," said Kevin Drabinski, Caltrans District 5 spokesperson.
It took crews two years to rebuild the highway at Regent’s Slide after a major landslide in 2024.
Drabinski said temporary closures like the one this week are expected while the slope above the new roadway gets seasoned.
“Over successive winters, it’ll be less and less of an issue," Drabinski said. "The great news is that the closure is really only 6.8 miles.”
Jennifer Fessenden of Arizona is traveling up the coast and had planned to drive through Big Sur. She stopped in Cambria during the closure.
“Whatever happens as long as we get to be out here on the coast cause where we live is the desert and we only get to do this maybe once a year and it’s been two years since we got to come since the last time, so we’ll just make the best of it," Fessenden said. "I just want to breathe in the ocean air.”
Cambria resident Steve Worth likes to cycle on Highway 1 and says some debris clean-up was expected.
“If you live in this coastal area, there’s going to be closures just all the time," Worth said. "Thank God it wasn’t the big one, that the Regent's Slide held great. There was just so much rain in such a short period of time.”
Drabinski said that future closures through Regent’s Slide should be short as long as weather conditions allow crews to get in and clean it up.
