Big Sur's Highway 1, Rebuilt On Top Of Landslide, To Open By End Of July

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Highway 1, the picturesque coastal road devastated by last year's deluge of rain and subsequent mudslides, could reopen in time for a road trip this summer.

The collapse of a hillside in an area called Mud Creek covered a third of a mile of road and drastically changed the Big Sur coastline immediately last May. The slide dumped more than 1 million tons of rock and dirt onto the scenic road between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Big Sur, a popular tourist destination on California's Central Coast, has been devastated by drought, wildfire, then heavy rain in recent years. Last year's rainstorms washed out bridges, damaged roads, and caused landslides that cut off access to some areas of Big Sur.

Instead of trying to clear the road of the rock and dirt, Caltrans decided to build on top of the new landscape to the tune of $54 million.

Caltrans says the highway at Mud Creek will reopen by the end of July.