A section of Highway 1 that includes Big Creek Bridge has reopened, Caltrans announced.
haveseen/Getty Images/iStockphotoPortions of Highway 1 near Big Sur that were closed due to impacts from this winter's storms will be reopened this weekend, Caltrans announced.
A road closure at Lime Creek was moved about five miles south to Big Creek Vista Point on Friday, Caltrans District 5 said in a press release. The move opened a section of the highway that includes Big Creek Bridge.
The highway south of Big Creek is still closed except to locals, though Caltrans will conduct assessments next week to decide whether the closure can be moved farther south, bringing it closer to the closure at Paul's Slide that has been in effect since inclement weather caused rockslides to pummel the Central Coast in early January.
On Sunday, another closure at Ragged Point will be moved about 20 miles north to Pacific Valley, Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski told SFGATE.
The reopening means that those living along previously closed-off stretches of Highway 1 will no longer be cut off in both directions from the rest of the highway, which has been the case for over a month.
"Every slide brings unique conditions and challenges," Drabinski said. "It really is the nature of the roadway on the edge of a continent, being part of that longtime conversation between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean."
At Mill Creek, crews are using spider excavators to clear debris from the cliffs above the highway until larger bulldozers are able to access the area, Drabinski said. He added that the steepness of the slope, along with saturation from the rains, is making this a difficult effort.
It'll take an estimated five weeks to clear the rockslide that's causing a closure at Mill Creek, and an unknown amount of time to clear the rockslide at Paul's Slide, Drabinski said.