Drivers can once again take Hwy 1 from Cambria to Carmel

Highway 1 at Mud Creek in the Big Sur area is now open to through traffic for the first time in 14 months.

The highway re-opened at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday after a massive landslide wiped out the roadway last year. 

The May 20, 2017 landslide sent nearly 6 million cubic yards of rock and dirt onto the highway and into the ocean. It was the largest slide ever along California’s Big Sur coast and created about 2,400 feet of new shoreline.

Crews had to reconstruct a 1/4-mile section of the highway over the landslide. Caltrans says the new highway is buttressed with a series of embankments, berms, rocks, netting, culverts, and other stabilizing material. 

The project cost about $54 million.

However, the work is not over. Caltrans says drivers should still expect delays and intermittent lane closures because construction work will continue for some time. Caltrans also notes it will take about two winters for the new slopes along the highway to stabilize.

An official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the highway’s reopening is planned for 11 a.m. on Friday at the Ragged Point Inn.