Big Sur Information

Header Photo by bigsurkate

IMPORTANT, READ THIS POST FIRST FOR INFORMATION ABOUT VISITING BIG SUR!!

For the most thorough and complete guide to Big Sur on the internet see:

Big Sur Visitor’s Guide

TAKE THE BIG SUR PLEDGE!

From http://Bigsurpledge.org

*********************************************************************

Interactive Highway Map with Mile Markers and slide names is to the right, under “Pages” first one *Big Sur Interactive Maps... if the following link doesn’t work. *Big Sur Interactive Slide Maps will answer any questions you may have about where something is in relation to something else.

MY DIRECT EMAIL IS: kwnovoa@mac.com

(Size for any header photos you may wish to submit it is 760×151 pixels.)

Tourist Tuesday, 10/15/19

As I have been saying for almost a year now, I won’t be posting the horror stories of overtourism any longer — they are multiplying faster than I can keep track. It is a worldwide phenomena.

Big Sur is exploring solutions, but to get there, we need data. Counters have recently put in a number of places (5?) on Carmel Valley Road, and I expect the same will happen here on Highway One. I have suggested a number of additional places NOT on Highway One. CABS put out an email request for suggestions on where they should be, and I answered.

Once I have something concrete to report, on anything about overtourism and Big Sur, I will do so. In the meantime, want to do something? Write to your state representatives (in CA) and point out the hypocrisy of this state’s position of climate change vis-a-vis the position of our tourist agency — visitcalifornia.com

California wants to be a leader in tackling climate change and yet it, through its tourist agency (paid for with our state taxes), uses the “road trip” as its major selling point for our state. We pay taxes for emissions control and development of green technology, for example, while we also pay taxes to invite people from all over the country and the world to take the ultimate road trip here — SF to LA — the usual route taken to sell our state to other countries. This adds to the environmental impacts we are trying to avoid — by tens of millions if not billions. This is the height of not just hypocrisy but of idiocy. Climate change is real. The science supports it. And where is California on the issue? Bringing in millions and millions of airplanes, cars and drivers to accelerate this change. I thought we were smarter than this. Contact your representatives and ask them to be smart.

Highway One Conditions near Ragged Point

Today’s Date:  Friday, October 11, 2019

District:  05–Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties

Contact:           Jim Shivers or Colin Jones

Phone:              (805) 549-3237 or (805) 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 TRAFFIC CONTROL NEAR RAGGED POINT CONTINUES NEXT WEEK/NO OVERNIGHT FULL CLOSURES PLANNED

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY – A project to construct a viaduct and retaining wall on Highway 1 between the San Carpoforo Creek Bridge and Ragged Point will continue the week of Sunday Oct. 13.

Motorists will encounter one-way reversing traffic control for the installation of K-rail and a 24/7 traffic signal beginning Monday, Oct. 14 with roadwork taking place Monday through Thursday from 6 am until 6 pm and on Fridays from 6 am until 2 pm. 

Electronic message boards will be posted to alert the public. This signal will allow traffic to proceed in each direction 24/7 until project completion.

No full overnight closures of Highway 1 are anticipated next week.

This $4.1 million project is Souza Engineering of San Luis Obispo, CA.  It’s scheduled to be complete by Spring of 2020.

Wild Fire near Indian Valley Visible from the 101 near Bradley, 10/8/19

As of 8:30 pm SLU said: [UPDATE] #CrossIC 35 Acres, potential for 100 acres in Monterey Co. burning south-south west towards #CountyofSlo. The fire is now burning into the Big Sandy State Wildlife Area. State wildlife officials are being notified.

This is visible from the 101 near Bradley. Here is a still from a video of it by Chad Dietz:

Here is the CHP entry:

Incident: 00302 Type: Report of Fire Location: Us101 N / Camp Roberts Loc Desc: INDIAN VLY JNO RIVER Lat/Lon: 35.798611 -120.741944 

Detail Information
7:12 PM4[7] VISIBLE FROM JEO THE HWY
7:12 PM3[6] 45B WILL BE GETTING LOTS OF CALLS ABOUT THE FIRE
7:02 PM2[3] TOT CAL FIRE
7:02 PM1[2] TOT MTY CAL FIRE / ADVDS CAL FIRE HANDLE

Road Work next week:

MONTEREY COUNTY – Here are the major scheduled road and lane closures for Monterey County from Sunday, October 6 through Saturday, October 12 – newest information is in red.Please keep in mind that construction work is weather-dependent. 

Highway 1: Bixby Creek Bridge – Hurricane Point: October 7 – October 11   
One-way traffic controls will be in place on northbound and southbound Highway 1 between Bixby Creek Bridge and Hurricane Point for shoulder work along the highway from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Highway 1: Salmon Creek – Grey Slip: October 8 – October 10  
One lane closure will occur along southbound and northbound Highway 1 between Salmon Creek and Grey Slip for paving work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Salmon Creek to Grey Slip is a long distance, so this will be a bit of a nightmare. Bring a pee cup, water, and snacks, or head out at dawn and come home after 3:30 pm.

The Story of a Redwood Tree

Here is the story published in Voices today:

By Kate Woods Novoa

It was a clear, sunny December morning when one of the beloved redwoods at the Henry Miller Library cracked and came down. It took out the fence but missed the library building. It was December 2, 2012.

Soon after this magnificent tree hit the ground, Magnus Toren, executive director of the library, thought of a way to honor the fallen redwood and also to help fund the library. He did not want this tree to simply rot and return to the ground as compost. He would turn it into slabs and auction them off. With the assistance of two others and they were able to obtain 38 beautiful slabs to sell out of this one tree. The process took more than three months to finish.

Two auctions of these legendary slabs have already been held, and they yielded $110,000 for the library. On Sunday, Oct. 6, the last dozen slabs will be auctioned off at the library. 

The auction is a chance to purchase 500 years of Big Sur history. 

The Henry Miller Library was created by Emil White, a longtime friend of the artist and writer who authored groundbreaking works of fiction like “Tropic of Cancer.” Located in Big Sur, 35 miles south of Carmel-by-the-Sea on Highway 1, the library occupies White’s former home. It is a public benefit, non-profit organization championing Miller’s literary, artistic and cultural contributions. Shortly after I moved to Big Sur in 1985, I had the pleasure of meeting Emil at the library. He was quite the “ladies man,” even into his 80s, and literally latched on to me for a bit.

The rest of my article can be read here: https://voicesofmontereybay.org/2019/10/03/the-story-of-a-redwood-tree/

Overnight Closures of Highway One to begin Sunday

Today’s Date:  Tuesday, October 2, 2019

District:            05–Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties

Contact:           Jim Shivers or Colin Jones

Phone:              (805) 549-3237 or (805) 549-3189

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 OVERNIGHT CLOSURES NEAR RAGGED POINT RESUME THIS SUNDAY

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY – The full overnight closures of Highway 1 near Ragged Point will resume on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 9 pm and will resume each overnight through Friday morning, Oct. 11 from 9 pm until 5 am.  

The installation of K-rail and a 24/7 traffic signal will begin October 13 with roadwork Monday through Thursday from 6 am until 6 pm and on Fridays from 6 am until 2 pm.  Electronic message boards will be posted to alert the public. This signal will allow traffic to proceed in each direction 24/7 until project completion.

This project includes the construction of a viaduct and retaining wall on Highway 1 between the San Carpoforo Creek Bridge and Ragged Point.  The contractor for this $4.1 million project is Souza Engineering of San Luis Obispo, CA.  It’s scheduled to be complete by Spring of 2020.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway construction zones.