Regent’s Slide along Highway 1 has blocked access between Ragged Point and Big Sur for over a year.
“More than 500,000 cubic yards of dirt have been moved already on this site,” said Toks Omishakin, State Secretary of Transportation.
Regent’s slide is the only thing preventing a full reopening of this portion of Highway 1.
“This part of the state sees more slides of this type than anywhere else on this segment of Highway 1,” Omishakin said.
The 450-foot slide happened in January of 2024.
“And then what subsequently happened was another 200 additional feet, so roughly 650 feet of slide activity that we’ve seen on the slope. That’s two football fields put back-to-back in length,” Omishakin said.
Since April of last year, crews have worked 7 days a week, stabilizing the hillside and moving material.
“Remote-controlled equipment that they are using to do excavation work and move bulldozers to move dirt from areas of this project site that are unsafe,” Omishakin said.
But the work has come with constant setbacks.
“This is an active slide. It continues to move on its own and is exacerbated when we load up by pushing material on top of a slide that’s already there,” said Scott Eades, Caltrans District 5 Director.
The 6.8-mile-long closure has impacted local businesses that depend on tourism.
“The impacts. We’ve heard. We’re talking anywhere from 30 to 50% as far as revenue impacts to their businesses,” Omishakin said.
A Linn's restaurant employee says they've seen a slight decline in business since the closure.
"It's pretty critical that we get it fixed and get it going,” said Ronnie Wannagat, Linn’s employee.
“Nearly 90% of the revenue from this area comes in from the tourism industry, so we know how important it is,” Omishakin said.
Funding for this project is from their state highway account, primarily gas tax dollars.
“Every dollar we spend on emergency work is a dollar we don’t spend on pavement somewhere else. We try to manage it well because it’s the same resource we use in other areas. A portion of the dollars is reimbursed via the federal government,” said Eades.
Omishakin says they expect to give a timeframe in mid-September of when the highway will be opened once again.
