Full Closure of Highway 1 now in effect

Date:	Wednesday, January 4, 2023, at 5 pm
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Kevin Drabinski or Jim Shivers
Phone:	(805) 549-3138      (805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UPDATE #6

 FULL CLOSURE NOW IN EFFECT FOR HIGHWAY 1 ON THE BIG SUR COAST 

MONTEREY / SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTIES – A full closure of Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast is in effect as of 5 pm today. The southern end of the closure on Highway 1 is in San Luis Obispo County at Ragged Point. The northern end of the closure is set in Monterey County just south of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn.

There is no estimated time for reopening. 

Crews are monitoring water and debris falling from above the roadway at a location named Polar Star, one mile south of Ragged Point. Crews will continue to monitor this concern and updates will be provided if the closure area needs to move south of Ragged Point.

With the soil already saturated by recent rain activity, and with heavy wind and rain in the forecast over the next days, it is anticipated that the roadway within the closure parameters will experience areas of slide activity, flooding, and rockfall.

Other than public safety agencies and emergency response teams, no other vehicles are permitted to enter the closure area. Caltrans maintenance crews will perform daytime storm patrols within the closure as long as they judge that it is safe to do so.

The cooperation from the traveling public in staying out of the closure area will ensure that Caltrans maintenance teams can respond safely to address any emerging areas of concern and that, if called upon, emergency response and public safety teams will be able to travel unimpeded within the closure.

Additionally, during overnight hours, gates will be closed across the roadway within the closure area at the north and south end of Paul’s Slide (PM 22).

Caltrans has activated its district emergency operation centers and we are working with local partners to respond and recover from the storm.

Additional updates will be provided as more information becomes available. 

Caltrans QuickMap for Travel on All State Highways

For current traffic information about all roads within the state highway system, the Caltrans’ QuickMap mobile app and website provides travelers with continuous updates on lane and road closures due to construction and maintenance activities, emergency incidents, electronic highway message sign content, rest area locations, and highway camera snapshots.

A recent push notification feature on the QuickMap app allows drivers to automatically receive real-time notifications about nearby road closures, emergencies, and other traffic updates. See link for more information about this new feature: https://dot.ca.gov/news-releases/news-release-2022-031