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.
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Kate,
Not sure how they are going to enforce this. Most people will just ignore the signs or barricades they put up. They will have to have law enforcement there most of the day. Pt. Lobos has become a problem also. Most people are ignoring those signs also.
It's a start I wish them good luck. Last times I have been down the pictures you show tell the story.
Richard
People don't know how to contain their excitement about their visit to Big Sur so they focus on the unusual old bridge. They are stupid and forget how they endanger others by stopping and blocking the road. You just need to reconsider your passage., before you get there., there is no stopping the idiots.
hopefully they will have law-enforcement/traffic control in place starting Friday through Monday. For now really that’s the only answer to keep traffic moving.
Thank you for this information, it is shocking to hear traffic has increased like this. Sounds like Disneyland. 😔
The only option to mitigate this cluster F is to place K-rails along the road, blocking all turnouts in the vicinity and signage north and south stating there will be no parking at BB. Coast road will be a zoo when everyone drives up to get their precious picture. Hope they have a plan for that inevitability. I wonder what gating it would look like. Couldn’t look any worse than it does now with the useless orange cones and a no parking sign.
I truly hope this next attempt is thought out enough to be effective.
They have had two CHP officers sitting all day long at the Garrapota Bridge construction site for the last couple weeks. There is no justification for not having any enforcement at Bixby, especially on weekends and holidays. The officers at the construction site are not creating any revenue but are there for worker safety. If they have at least one officer enforcing Bixby they will be guaranteed revenue and will be contributing to public safety. Last i checked that is part if CHP’s mission statement.
Oh how I wish for some original thinking here!
Making visual junkyards out of the bridgeheads with cones, K-rails, signs, and endless “temporary” traffic controls would be a tragedy. Big Sur has always worked because the road felt provisional — fragile and a bit dangerous — suspended between engineering and wilderness. Once every overlook and bridge approach starts looking like a managed construction corridor, something essential is lost.
And I do wonder what Hurricane Point will become as it absorbs more pressure and traffic. The danger is not only congestion but that the place slowly transforms from a wild windswept edge into an engineered viewing platform layered with barriers, pullouts, signage, and crowd management. Places rarely lose their soul all at once — it happens through accumulated caution and permanent “temporary” solutions.
To add to Jon’s comment, all last week. It was rather upsetting to see 2 CHP cruisers at Granite Canyon all day. When just a short distance south from there at Bixby BridgeIt was a dangerous mess. on several days there were more than a dozen vehicles not just double parked, but actually parked in the road blocking the entire lane If there was an emergency a fire engine would not have been able to get through until people moved their cars.
It would be enlightening to know whether the CHP is actually citing drivers for VC 22109 or VC 22400.
VC 22109 states: No person shall stop or suddenly decrease the speed of a vehicle on a highway without first giving an appropriate signal in the manner provided in this chapter to the driver of any vehicle immediately to the rear when there is opportunity to give the signal.
VC 22400 states: (a) No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic unless the reduced speed is necessary for safe operation, because of a grade, or in compliance with law.
No person shall bring a vehicle to a complete stop upon a highway so as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic unless the stop is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.
I wonder if this newish windshield covering suction cup device could help CHP keep the highway passable at Bixby. It is much faster to deploy than a tow truck and can be detached and then immediately redeployed . But people need to make a phone call to pay their fine and get a code to detach it from their windshield. Car isn’t drivable until they do. Maybe install a pay phone nearby? This is the website, sorry hyperlinks are beyond my skills.
barnacleparking.com/how-it-works/