Highway 1

[MAC]

https://www.insider.com/landslide-causes-massive-chunk-big-sur-highway-fall-into-ocean-2021-1

[oldbike54]

 OH MY !

 Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

Saw that on the news, shoot, we get that in Arkansas 

[ampm7]

A few months ago I was on "1" on the Eldo. They have to constantly work on the road all year round. From Carmel to San Simeon up and down, twisties  some straightaways for over 100 miles. It looks like it is going to be down for quite some time.

[Gliderjohn]

Would have been bad news for a rider to be hotdogging through that far curve heading toward the camera.
GliderJohn

[kirby1923]

Pretty sure Big Sur, the part that breaks off from Hwy 1 and follows the actual coast line , off limits to motos (except to residents of BS), so no loss to us poor folks. Can't look at the link, so wonder the actual location.

:-)

[JJ]

Is this part of "The Devil's Slide?!?"

[twowheeladdict]

People act like this is not a normal occurrence.  Just like the fires out west, tornados in tornado alley, and Hurricanes in the gulf. 

Although SR 1 is a popular route for its scenic beauty, frequent landslides and erosion along the coast have caused several segments to be either closed for lengthy periods for repairs, or re-routed inland.

Landslides
Frequent landslides and erosion along the coast have caused portions of SR 1 to either be closed for long periods of time, or be re-routed entirely. Some of these include:

A segment along the coast between Pacifica and Daly City in what is now Thornton Beach was damaged and rendered unusable after a 5.3 magnitude earthquake on March 22, 1957. SR 1 was then eventually re-routed to turn inland to join Interstate 280.
The Piedras Blancas Realignment Project plans to re-route the road up to 475 feet (145 m) further inland to avoid the expected coastal erosion from the Piedras Blancas Light Station to the Arroyo de la Cruz Bridge in San Luis Obispo County.[53]
Big Rock Mesa landslide in Malibu was one of the worst in state history. A total of 250 homes collapsed, cracked or slid off their foundation with 30 homes being condemned. The state agreed to pay forty million dollars as cutting through the hillside to build Pacific Coast Highway was a contributing cause.[54]
The Devil's Slide area has been prone to major landslides. One slide in 1995 caused the road to be closed for five months, while another in 2006 led to a four-month closure.[55] The Tom Lantos Tunnels, named after former U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, opened in 2013 to bypass the area.[56]
In 2011, major reconstruction was completed between Muir Beach and Stinson Beach, including the addition of a 523-foot-long (159 m), 20-foot-high (6.1 m), but mostly buried, retaining wall. This followed a four-month, $25 million reconstruction that repaired damage from a 2007 landslide.[57]
A March 2011 landslide in the Big Sur region forced Caltrans to close the highway for several months.[58] A section south of Lucia that is also prone to frequent landslides, known as Pitkins Curve and Rain Rocks, was replaced with a bridge and a covered rock shed.[59]
During the winter of 2016–2017, the Big Sur region received more than 60 inches (150 cm) of rain. The road was closed or partially closed due to mudslides and landslides in at least six locations. On February 20, Caltrans declared that the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge just south of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park was damaged beyond repair, closing that segment of SR 1 for eight months, and effectively splitting Big Sur in half.[60] Some businesses, cut off from customers and without access to supplies, were forced to close. For some residents, the only means of getting out was via helicopter.[61][62] In March, Caltrans demolished the bridge and began construction of the replacement.[63] The rebuilt bridge opened on October 13, 2017 at a cost of $24 million.[64][65]
Another major slide at Mud Creek closed a 30-mile (48 km) stretch of the highway in May 2017.[66] The huge slide at Mud Creek covered about one-third mile (0.54 km) of road with 40 feet (12 m) of dirt and rock. The slide was on a section of the road that was already closed due to smaller slides. The scale of the slide was compared to a very large slide during the winter of 1983–1984 that closed SR 1 for more than a year.[67] A replacement roadway was built over the landslide and opened in July 2018, at a cost of $40 million.[68][69][70][71]
After heavy rainfall, a section of the highway at mile marker 30, near Rat Creek in Monterey County, collapsed into the ocean in January 2021.[72]

I am thankful it was open the four times I visited.

[Demar]

Is this part of "The Devil's Slide?!?"

No. Devil's Slide is about 140 miles north. In 2013 they opened a tunnel to bypass it. I had driven thru Devil's Slide many times during high school. Every once in a while someone would drive off the road into the Pacific. This Big Sur road slide looks pretty big. The road will be closed for at least a year I would guess. I've ridden thru Big Sur many times and it's beautiful. They will either build a bridge or cut the road back inland to bypass it.  I would guess they will bridge it because the area that washed out looks like a natural drainage between two hills on either side.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9204911/Drone-footage-captures-CRATER-Californias-Highway-One-Big-Sur-rain-washes-road-away.html

This is a rock shed they built to keep falling rocks off the roadway.

[JJ]

Yes...they won't be fixing this anytime soon!!

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/30/us/big-sur-road-collapse-trnd/index.html

[Scout63]

It was a great ride 30 years ago.  I think that was before California fell out of favor with the gods.

[DesertPilot]

I'm thinking it won't be quite as bad as the slides of 1983, near Julia Pfeiffer Burns State park, that buried a substantial section of road, closed the things for a year, and changed the shape of several of the beaches.  But it isn't something they'll shrug off in week, there must be plenty of unstable hillside along the burn scars from several recent fires, and winter is far from over.

This whole 'not knowing whether there will be a road around that corner' thing is one of the reasons I no longer drive (or ride!) Route 1 at night in the rain during rainy season.  During the day, when one can spot the occasional surprise before it arrives, yes.  At night, there's nothing to see anyway, so I'll just take the inland route.

[cliffrod]

Makes me think of I-40 around the TN-NC state line, except there it's usually a rockslide with car-sized boulders that closes the interstate.  there was a really big washout a few years ago, think it got both lanes in one spot and just the eastbound in another.  Pretty normal for a slide to close at least the westbound lane for wks or months once every few years.  They've done a lot to minimize the danger in recent years, but there's only so much that can be done.  It's a fun road on the bike, but when you travel it regularly such things are always on your mind. 

Not sure which would be worse- flying into a giant hole or smacking head on into a wall of giant boulders....

[Scout63]

Makes me think of I-40 around the TN-NC state line, except there it's usually a rockslide with car-sized boulders that closes the interstate.  there was a really big washout a few years ago, think it got both lanes in one spot and just the eastbound in another.  Pretty normal for a slide to close at least the westbound lane for wks or months once every few years.  They've done a lot to minimize the danger in recent years, but there's only so much that can be done.  It's a fun road on the bike, but when you travel it regularly such things are always on your mind. 

Not sure which would be worse- flying into a giant hole or smacking head on into a wall of giant boulders....

The giant hole. I don’t think they make an airbag for that.

[nc43bsa]

Makes me think of I-40 around the TN-NC state line, except there it's usually a rockslide with car-sized boulders that closes the interstate.  there was a really big washout a few years ago, think it got both lanes in one spot and just the eastbound in another.  Pretty normal for a slide to close at least the westbound lane for wks or months once every few years.  They've done a lot to minimize the danger in recent years, but there's only so much that can be done.  It's a fun road on the bike, but when you travel it regularly such things are always on your mind. 

Not sure which would be worse- flying into a giant hole or smacking head on into a wall of giant boulders....

IIRC, that was about the same time this happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXhjPkGBtU

[leroy_can]

  Here is a picture of a picture I took in Aug. 84 of a landslide near Big Sur. I couldn't make sense of it at first because as bad as my memory is I clearly remember being stopped by a fairly fresh landslide heading North on #1 and heading inland from there. The picture is clearly taken from the North side which I couldn't have gotten to.  I went a little farther back in my pictures and  solved the confusion. I actually went to California 2 years in a row on my 1980 Laverda Jota in 83 going North up #1 and in 84 going South on #1. I can't find a picture from 83 but I stopped and took this one in 84 because the slide area was obvious but the road was repaired then and was able to carry on. I  can't say for sure but it looks like there are houses down there. That would be choice real estate until it wasn't.

[twowheeladdict]

I met a guy at a rally that was wearing a T-shirt with a photo of his bike in a landslide.  He and his Lady were riding in the rain at night somewhere in the northwest and he got caught up in the slide.  They somehow weren't seriously Hurt, but the decision was made to move to a trike.

I just spent an hour seeing if I had a photo of that shirt.  I guess it is one of those "I wish I had taken a photo" moments.  I can clearly remember it, but can't share it.

[Motormike]

Every time I make plans to ride Highway 1, a big chunk washes away 😭

[kirkemon]

Pretty sure Big Sur, the part that breaks off from Hwy 1 and follows the actual coast line , off limits to motos (except to residents of BS), so no loss to us poor folks. Can't look at the link, so wonder the actual location.

:-)

Not sure what you're talking about. I camp there often (when Hwy 1 is open) The small roads are to campgrounds, I've always ridden to them. The only part that prohibits motorcycles is the 17 Mile Drive in Carmel, I suspect due to our Harley friends and loud pipes through Pebble Beach, but this is not close to the road closure.
I don't understand why Cal Trans or DOT, inspect Hwy 1 more often. I know they're always working on it, but can't they predict where it's going to give way?   

[Moparnut72]

Three of us were "asked" by a local cop to leave Malibu in 1969. I was on a BMW, the two others were on a Ducati and a BSA. He told us he didn't like it but the locals didn't "like" motorcycles. Loud pipes don't save lives and for sure don't make friends in influential positions.
kk

[ampm7]

Evidently, the road is open to the town of Big Sur so, the "hole" is south of that location. When I was up there several months ago they were using some interesting machine that uses gravel to either rough up the road or impregnate it. Couldn't figure out which so, a lot of the route was one lane and flagmen stopping all traffic. Plus, there was loose gravel in the center of the road going around turns. That can really put a crimp in your riding.

[Demar]

Plus, there was loose gravel in the center of the road going around turns. That can really put a crimp in your riding.[/url]

They don't need speed bumps to slow motorcyclists. Just put out signs that say loose gravel.

[pehayes]

Some nice maps of the Big Sur coast here:

https://bigsurkate.blog/big-sur-interactive-highway-maps-with-slide-names-mile-markers/

You can see why so many people want to ride this route.  The current washout slide is on the 'Central' map.  Look for Rat Creek just north of Big Creek which is just a little north of the gas/food stop at Lucia.  Close enough.

There is a passable road that will take you from Highway 1 on the coast over to Fort Hunter Liggett and then into the Salinas Valley at King City.  The current slide area is NORTH of that coastal junction.  So you could ride up from the south end and take Nacimiento-Ferguson Road up the mountains.  If you come from the north end in Carmel you'll just hit a dead end to return.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Tusayan]

I had the same thought.  It looks to me that when riding northward Highway 1 is closed today about 7 miles south of the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road turnoff to Ft Hunter Liggett.  Yesterday it was a little further south at Ragged Point.  If they push the closure north to Lucia in due course, that will provide access to the N-F turnoff. 

Some info here:

https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html

[v85kris]

Not sure what you're talking about. I camp there often (when Hwy 1 is open) The small roads are to campgrounds, I've always ridden to them. The only part that prohibits motorcycles is the 17 Mile Drive in Carmel, I suspect due to our Harley friends and loud pipes through Pebble Beach, but this is not close to the road closure.
I don't understand why Cal Trans or DOT, inspect Hwy 1 more often. I know they're always working on it, but can't they predict where it's going to give way?

I ride 101 to 1 from o.c. to Monterey a couple of times a year.  On my last trip I pulled in to take the 17 mile drive.  When I stopped at the gate I was told by the guard that no motorcycle’s we’re allowed.  I asked if I could take his car, he was not amused!

[Dilliw]

Sounds like its in the area of Pfeiffer Beach.  One of my favorite spots.

[twowheeladdict]

I ride 101 to 1 from o.c. to Monterey a couple of times a year.  On my last trip I pulled in to take the 17 mile drive.  When I stopped at the gate I was told by the guard that no motorcycle’s we’re allowed.  I asked if I could take his car, he was not amused!

Are those private roads? 

I have been to gated communities with a no motorcycle rule.  Then comes the guy in his Mustang GT with the pipes set on race mode.  LOL!  I guess it is too difficult to make a rule about dB levels instead of wiping out an entire mode of transportation. 

[Tusayan]

I guess it is too difficult to make a rule about dB levels instead of wiping out an entire mode of transportation.

It’s not too difficult but noise has generally been a cover story for not wanting motorcycles in any way shape or form, at any volume.  I think it’s hopelessly naive to believe that quiet motorcycles would be acceptable to those who complain about loud motorcycles.

BTW, it looks to me like the road north to Lucia remains in “limited access” status, which might mean you need to have a reason to pass the general road closure a few miles south.  I can imagine a reservation at the Lucia Lodge might do the trick.  It’d be a lot of fun to blast north from SLO up an empty Highway 1, stay at the Lucia Lodge and then with access to Nacimiento-Fergusson from Lucia to head east in the morning.  It’s a nice loop to Monterey or elsewhere via Carmel Valley