The next phase of repairs to stabilize the “slide” of the Rocky Creek Bridge on Highway 1 in Big Sur will close the two-lane road again, but the closures will occur only at night, California Department of Transportation officials announced this week.
Starting Monday, the damaged section of highway, about 12 miles south of Carmel, will be partially closed nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., with traffic delays expected for up to an hour, Caltrans said in an update. That work will continue through Thursday, July 25.
“Crews will use these partial closures to reposition the existing K lane and place temporary striping to allow for construction activities on the southbound lane,” Caltrans officials said.
The following week, July 28 through Aug. 1, the highway will be completely closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for repair work, Caltrans officials said. More closures are expected to be necessary on an intermittent basis after that week, officials said.
No night work is scheduled on Friday or Saturday nights, the agency said.
On March 30, a portion of the southbound lane of Highway 1 collapsed during heavy rains, causing the roadway to crumble and fall into the ocean. The slide initially led to the closure of that section of the highway for weeks.
In mid-May, a single lane of the damaged section was reopened to the public, with vehicles taking turns heading in opposite directions through an alternating set of traffic lights.
To reopen both lanes, much work is still needed. Caltrans officials said the necessary repairs are expected to be completed next summer.
Meanwhile, other damaged sections of Highway 1 have been closed since January 2023. About 30 miles south of the Rocky Creek slide, a series of landslides, including one this winter, closed a stretch of the highway near Lucia. That closure begins near Limekiln State Park from the south.
Caltrans spokesman Kevin Drabinski said work on Regent's Slide, the largest of the landslides that closed this section of highway, continues.
Caltrans hopes to reopen that southern stretch by late fall, Drabinski said last month.
