1 month ago
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A 90-mile (145-kilometer) section of California’s Highway 1 along the famous Big Sur coast finally reopened Wednesday after three years of closures and repairs following a series of landslides and a roadway collapse that hampered tourism on the scenic route.
The reopening around midday came three months ahead of schedule, and business owners say that should give travelers plenty of time to plan their spring and summer road trips.
“Today is a monumental milestone for us,” said a relieved Colin Twohig, general manager of the Big Sur River Inn. “We’re hitting the light at the end of the tunnel after three long years.”
The first shutdown came in January 2023 when a series of powerful atmospheric rivers triggered a major landslide. The highway was buried again the following year during another wet winter, when a lane also collapsed down a cliff near the Rocky Creek Bridge.
The traffic stoppage between Carmel and Cambria cut off access to Big Sur, an isolated stretch of the state’s central coast where misty, forested mountains rise up from the ocean. What used to be a short drive between the southern and northern sections — with tiny Big Sur Village roughly in the middle — became an eight-hour trek inland and then back toward the seashore.
The isolated area, home to fewer than 2,000 residents, is known for its panoramic hiking trails along high cliffs and craggy beaches where seals and sea lions sometimes sprawl out. The late “Tr...
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