Monterey County Board of Supervisors Fact Sheet:

Bixby Bridge Parking Moratorium

Meeting Date: Tuesday, May 19

Topic: Proposed parking restrictions near Bixby Bridge in Big Sur

Board Actions Taken

• The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted to move forward with a

12-month moratorium on parking in the immediate vicinity of Bixby Bridge.

• The motion passed 3-0, with Supervisors Chris Lopez and Luis Alejo

abstaining.

• County staff were directed to:

o Draft a temporary ordinance establishing parking restrictions.

o Return the ordinance to the board for at least two rounds of review

before implementation.

o Pursue required permits from Caltrans and Coastal Commission

process.

Implementation Status

• The parking ban is not yet in effect.

• No implementation date has been finalized.

• The original goal of implementing restrictions before Memorial Day

weekend was delayed due to:

o Permitting requirements

o Staffing needs

o Enforcement planning

Reasons Cited for the Action

County officials identified several concerns related to increased visitation and

congestion around Bixby Bridge, including:• Emergency vehicle access delays

• Traffic congestion affecting residents and commuters

• Illegal roadside and in-road parking

• Pedestrian safety concerns

• Increased tourism following the reopening of Highway 1 on Jan. 14

Tourism and Traffic Data Brought Forward in Board Referral

• Northbound traffic at Ragged Point reportedly increased by more than

900% year-over-year.

• Caltrans reported:

o Restaurant and retail guest counts up approximately 40% year-to-

date

o Peak weekends nearly doubling previous 2025 levels

Enforcement and Operational Considerations

Officials discussed several enforcement-related issues that still need resolution:

• Determining whether enforcement costs will be covered by the county, the

state, or both

• Preliminary estimates projected approximately $15,300 per month for one

CHP officer working weekends

• Additional enforcement options under consideration include:

o Monterey County Sheriff-based enforcement agreements

o Drone monitoring

Concerns Raised During Board Discussion

Some supervisors expressed concerns regarding:

• Potential legal issues involving California Coastal Commission regulations

• Whether a full parking ban could shift congestion into travel lanes

• The need for active enforcement to prevent unsafe roadside stopping

Next Steps

• County staff will prepare draft ordinance language.

• The ordinance will return to the Board of Supervisors for additional public

review and approval before any restrictions are implemented.

• Emergency Coastal Development Permit efforts will begin

• Caltrans permitting efforts will begin

Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of the summer tourist season is almost upon us. Tuesday the Board of Supervisors took up the issue of a moratorium on parking at Bixby Creek Bridge. It passed by a majority vote with 2 abstemsias. It will take effect at sometime in the not to distant but unknown future date. It is just the most recent attempt to address an out-of-control situation that has resulted in a dangerous and unsustainable condition that has been present ever since Big Little Lies made it part of their opening credits in 2017.

Those who live and work in Big Sur need no reminder of what it can be like to try to get anywhere that involves crossing Bixby Bridge or heading home up the Coast Road. Just this past Tuesday, a Big Sur friend who had an appointment in town on Tuesday wrote me that Bixby Bridge was “insane” — her word, not mine. That’s on a TUESDAY in May, not a weekend during the summer. Here is what Bixby Bridge was like in 2024 — when the road was still closed to the south.

See Video shot by Marcus Foster Memorial Day weekend 2024 here: https://youtu.be/cLybEK7sS9w?si=0lCEAwMke2aBrE8k or here: https://bigsurkate.blog/2024/05/28/bixby-bridge-memorial-day-weekend/ (I apologize, I did my best to embed this video here, but it didn’t’ think this version of WordPress was compatible with the current version of you tube, despite the fact that it is still playing on the prior post linked above. It is beyond my pay grade to spend any more time on it, just click on the prior bigsurkate post.)

Since it opened, Traffic heading north at Ragged Point has increased 900% — you read that right 900%. That will quickly turn Highway One between Ragged Point and Carmel into a parking lot. Of course, Mama Sur has a way of shaking off or tossing out too many people and particularly the wrong type of people who do not respect her. If in fact we get the Monster El Niño which seems to be developing for this winter, the road will close again somewhere. The only question is where. There are several places that have slid before that I notice are moving again. I am not the only one noticing.

So my advice to those visiting is to enjoy Big Sur and all her beauty, but treat her well. Be mindful of others who will pick up after you so there is no health hazard and so that others may enjoy her beauty; be mindful of traffic, and treat ALL your fellow travelers on this highway with even MORE respect than you expect to be treated. Only stop where there are turnouts and at businesses that can and will welcome you. And lastly, both the mountains and the ocean here are quite treacherous in Big Sur. Please don’t put our first responders in danger by needing to be rescued from some bad decision YOU made. We love and need them. Thank you.

What recovery after a wildfire looks like, six years later…

.Big Sur is used to landslides, but having two back to back which closed the highway for there years was new to us. It was difficult for the businesses to stay afloat at first, but they managed. Residents had to adapt as well, but Big Syrians are adept at that. Now that the highway is open for the summer, they are well on the way to making up for the lost revenue and more, way more, if the figures from January through May are any indication. Big Sur Chamber of Commerce, San Luis Obispo County Chambers, Caltrans and Governor Newsome’s office hosted an “opening” celebration at Ragged Point yesterday, 5/15/26 for the iconic highway that opened in mid January. It was an excellent photo op and free publicity for the road that needs no publicity.

Visit California, the nonprofit organization tasked with promoting California tourism, stated that northbound traffic at Ragged Point is up more than 900% since the highway was reopened, showing a “pent-up demand for travel to this iconic coastal corridor,” according to state officials, like Newsom’s Senior Advisor Dee Dee Myers.

Local businesses in Big Sur are experiencing what businesses describe as an “on switch” effect. Year-to-date guest counts at restaurants and retail locations are up approximately 40%, with peak weekends nearly doubling 2025 levels. Lodging patronage further underscores this momentum, with February and March occupancy rates reaching 80% and 96%, respectively (up from 70% and 85% last year). Forward-looking indicators are equally robust, with hotel revenue pacing 108% ahead of last year over the next 12 months and 200% above 2025 levels for the critical travel season from March through August. (Per a PR issues by Caltrans

“The robust and sustained increase in visitation is allowing our business, employees, and larger community to recover rapidly from the three-year closure,” said Kirk Gafill, owner of Nepenthe restaurant in Big Sur. “We have experienced a 45 percent increase in guest volume following the reopening of Highway 1 in January.”

With Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer tourist season around the corner, and due to the craziness that has become Bixby Bridge, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors is taking up the issue of parking at this InstaGram online sensation and is considering a one year moratorium on parking on or near the bridge at the May 19th Board of Supervisors meeting.. Just driving over the bridge to get to town has become a nightmare due to double parking, people stopping in the middle of the road, getting out, locking their car and walking over to get what they think is ai mandatory souvenir — a photo of a man-made artifact of the 1930’s. (Note: this exact scenario happened to this blogger a few years back and others have written saying it happened to them.)

We were pushing back at the issues of the mess at Bixby Bridge at least as far back as Memorial Day 2019.if not before See: shttps://bigsurkate.blog/2019/05/28/tourist-tuesday-bixby-bridge-memorial-day-weekend/

Taken July 4th last year…while the road was still closed further south.

While we are glad to see our visitors returning and sharing the beauty of our coast, we simply ask of our visitors:

And above all harm no one and no thing. Make sure you leave this sacred place at beautiful and natural as you found it so that future generations and feel the magic, too.

Central Coast, Stand Up! 📣 Join us at a town hall to learn what proposed changes to the Roadless Rule could mean for Los Padres and our public lands.

For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected millions of acres of intact national forest from new roads, large-scale logging, and mining, including more than 635,000 acres in and around Los Padres National Forest.

Now, the U.S. Forest Service is proposing to roll back these protections while limiting public input in the process.

Together, we can show that our communities are paying attention—and that we will fight to protect our forests.

🌲 OJAI – May 28 at Sane Living

🌲 VENTURA – May 29 at Topa Topa Brewing Co. on Colt St.

🌲 SANTA BARBARA – June 10 at Toad&Co. Courtyard

🌲 SLO – Details coming soon…stay tuned!

👉🏽 RSVP: https://ow.ly/ue7c50YZSyz

There are some really interesting charts provided for this. If you want to check it out, click here:

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/index.shtml

From Heather Cox Richardson today: “If you google the history of Mother’s Day, the internet will tell you that Mother’s Day began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis decided to honor her mother. But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society.” This is particularly apt given the current political climate and the unauthorized war we are all paying for.

I kept my politics off my blog until this day in 2022. After the week that had preceded it, I no longer could. I wrote: “This is not something I can stand quietly by and watch. I must speak out, and loudly, in every platform I can. thus, today’s photos are not the beautiful ones of my beloved Big Sur coast, but of women who have and are speaking out. On this day, I want to say that no one, NO ONE should be forced to become a mother by government entities — against her will. Happy Mother’s Day to all who gladly assume this heavy mantle.”

Just a reminder of all that started to erode away the rights of women under Trump 1.0, please see my prior post from Mother’s Day, 2022. The photos alone are worth the trip back in time 4 years.

Please see https://bigsurkate.blog/2022/05/08/photo-sunday-mothers-day-2022/

And to my own beautiful daughter, Crystal, who is dealing with a very hard situation with her daughter, Amanda, by helping and supporting her in all the ways she can, know I am here for you and my granddaughter in whatever way either of you need. You are not alone. I love you both.

I find the MoCo website a nightmare to navigate or I would post links to this and probably the staff report, which should be up soon. Maybe some kind soul will post the link to the staff report in the comment section.

Notice of Meeting

County of Monterey Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory

Council

IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council (BSMAAC) of the

County of Monterey, State of California will hold a meeting. The hearing will be held on Friday,

May 29, 2026 at the hour of 10:00 a.m. The agenda for the Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory

Council meeting will provide information on how the public may observe and provide testimony in

person in the Big Sur Lodge, 47225 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920. At least 72 hours ahead of

the meeting, the agenda will be posted at 47225 Highway 1, Big Sur, CA 93920, and on the County

website at the following address: https://www.countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-

h/housing-community-development/planning-services/current-planning/committees-hearings-

agendas/big-sur-multi-agency-advisory-council-bsmaac

Any and all persons interested in participating in the meeting are encouraged to submit comments

via email to scariotk1@countyofmonterey.gov by 5:00 p.m. the Thursday prior to the Big Sur Multi-

Agency Advisory Council Meeting to facilitate distribution of the comments to the officers.

Si necesita la traducción de este aviso, comuníquese con el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo

Comunitario del Condado de Monterey ubicado en el Centro de Gobierno del Condado de

Monterey, 1441 Schilling Place, segundo piso, Salinas o por teléfono al (831) 755-5025. Después

de su solicitud, la Secretaria asistirá con la traducción de este aviso.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Katie Scariot, Assistant Planner

County of Monterey Housing and Community Development

1441 Schilling Place – South, 2nd Floor, Salinas, CA, 93901

Scariotk1@countyofmonterey.org (831) 796-6093

HIGHWAY 68 CORRIDOR TO MOVE TO ADAPTIVE TRAFFIC SIGNAL CONTROL BEGINNING MONDAY, MAY 4

MONTEREY COUNTY – Nine traffic signals on Highway 68 between San Benancio Road and Josselyn Canyon Road will operate under Adaptive Traffic Signal Control (ATSC) beginning Monday, May 4.

Implementation of the ATSC system comes after months of field testing and calibration which helped build the model for the new system.

The Board of Directors of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) voted in March 2025 to pursue a 5-year Adaptive Traffic Signal Control Pilot Project. Caltrans District 5 is excited to take a lead role in implementing this innovative pilot project in partnership with TAMC staff. 

The project team will continue to share analysis of the ATSC system with the TAMC Board of Directors and provide regular updates throughout the life of the 5-year pilot project.

Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: Twitter at: CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5. 

Our crews deserve to get home safely too.

Drive slowly and carefully in work zones.

CHP Traffic Incident Information Page: http://cad.chp.ca.gov

Traveler information at: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

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