This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Highway 1 Stretch in Monterey County Closed For At Least One Month

The closure was prompted by a massive rockslide that had the effect of breaking through a cliff wall and dropping about 100 feet of roadway into the sea on Wednesday evening.

A substantial portion of state Highway 1 is slated to remain closed for at least a month following a massive rockslide along the road in Monterey County on Wednesday evening, a Caltrans spokesman said.

A cliff wall gave way and dropped about 100 feet of roadway into the sea on state Highway 1 between Bixby Creek Bridge and Rocky Creek Bridge at about 5 p.m., Caltrans spokesman Colin Jones said.

No one was injured, but investigators still don't know what caused the slide.

Find out what's happening in Half Moon Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The ground is very unstable in that location," Jones said.

The closure is expected to impact thousands of people traveling along the highway, from runners who use the road as a marathon route, to campers headed up to Big Sur.

Find out what's happening in Half Moon Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But businesses surrounding the collapse are expected to remain open, and officials at the state department of Parks and Recreation assured campers that campgrounds are not closing.

"Although coming down Highway 1 from the north will not be possible, the southern route remains open," said C.L. Price, a spokesperson at Parks and Recreation, in a statement. "We would encourage people to keep their vacation plans and use the southern route."

Price said the southern route will take about three hours longer to make the trip, but "it is a spectacular stretch of coastline worth exploring on the way to Big Sur."

The Big Sur International Marathon, which began in 1986, may be affected by the rockslide because its annual route typically passes through the damaged portion of Highway 1.

But organizers already have a contingency plan that will allow the marathon to still take place. Runners will use an altered route if the stretch along the highway isn't fixed by May 1, the day of the marathon, according to the organization's website.

-- Bay City News

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?