Famous Highway California 1 Falls Into Ocean Due To Atmospheric River And Will Cost Millions To Repair | The State

Photo:
DANIEL SLIM / AFP / Getty Images

It is considered one of the most picturesque and beautiful roads in the country, with the Pacific Ocean on one side and the mountains on the other, but the Highway California 1 it broke due to the rains caused by the atmospheric river that has struck the entire state.

After a lane of Highway California 1 collapsed on Thursday about 15 miles south of Big Sur, the landslide continued this Friday due to the flow of water produced by the rains and the two-lane road completely disappeared.

Check out this amazing drone video of # Hwy1 washout at Rat Creek about 15 miles south of #BigSur. Our crews are on site securing it, assessing damage & starting clean-up / repairs. Reminder: the road is OPEN from #Carmel thru town of Big Sur. @bigsurkate @BigSurCC @CHP_Coastal pic.twitter.com/rB193DzXhL

– Caltrans District 5 (@ CaltransD5) January 29, 2021

Washed out. Highway 1, south of Big Sur, shutdown to thru traffic after the road crumbled into the Pacific Ocean. This is at Mile Marker 30 near Big Creek Bridge.
The Central Coast took the biggest beating from this week’s storm. https://t.co/7BWvoBEUwo @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/qNxECrnD8e

– Janelle Wang (@janellewang) January 29, 2021

As of 7 am, photo by Heath Johnston, Rat Creek, MM 30 pic.twitter.com/pCMURkOibd

– bigsurkate (@bigsurkate) January 29, 2021

Caltrans, the state transportation authority, said the repair will cost millions of dollars and that it is not known how long it will take.

Although it was originally indicated that the Big Sur area would be evacuated in the face of impending torrential rains, the authorities clarified that the evacuation orders were not carried out in the entire area, including where the collapse occurred.

There were no casualties from the collapse of Highway 1 and the highway is open to circulation between the towns of Carmel and Big Sur.