For people who live in Big Sur—accessible via Highway 1, the region's lonely paved artery on the edge of a cliff, and a series of rugged dirt roads—highway closures come with the season. They are expected at the edge of a continent that is actively crumbling into the Pacific Ocean below.
But what is less expected is a long-term closure to points of commerce to the north and to the south, where residents may be able to resupply essentials like food and medications, and also dispose of trash.
Highway 1 in Big Sur has been intermittently closed since a rainy December. Hard closures are now in effect due to a series of slides. On Jan. 14, debris at Paul's Slide (mile marker 22) cut off access to the north.
That slide happened 10 days after access to the south, in northern San Luis Obispo County, was cut off due to a slide on Jan. 4 at a location known as Polar Star, about a mile south of Ragged Point. (In between those two slides, creating an "island," there was another major slide at Mill Creek, at mile marker 18.)
Even before the slides, there have been intermittent closures since December. But since the slides created a full-on island effect, residents of the communities in between have been trying to figure out how to get to the other side. There was talk of a regular Caltrans-authorized convoy, which would allow motorists to pass through a gate at a designated time in the morning and return in the evening—but the latest word from Caltrans is, in essence, tough luck—due to safety, there will be no convoys.
(Caltrans did allow a resupply convoy to the north, but residents says it was announced just 12 hours in advance, and many people were unaware and didn't make it. "We are off the grid and there is no cell service here. In order for the internet to work, one needs solar power or generator and many have run out of fuel," resident Inga Dorosz writes by email. Another planned convoy, residents report, did not happen at all.)
That is frustrating to residents—there are an estimated 160 to 200 people who live in the "island" zone, in areas like Prewitt Ridge, Plaskett Ridge, on Los Burros Road, at Ragged Point and at Treebones—especially as they have watched Caltrans and contractors drive to and from. Butch Kronlund, executive director of the Community Association of Big Sur (CABS), says residents have observed bicycle tours moving through the impacted area as if there is no closure. "People have no idea there’s even a problem," he says.
Caltrans spokesperon Kevin Drabinski explained the problem in a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 25, hosted by Monterey County officials. While the highway might appear to be passable, he said, it could be compromised either below the road, or material may be moving above the road.
At Mill Creek, which slid on Jan. 15, Drabinski said, "Our geotech engineers say that slope is on the edge of stability and very likely to fail catasrophiscally—that is, in a rapid manner—in the near future."
Caltrans crews will be working from the top of the slide to remove material, the only safe approach given how saturated the soil is, and that there is a spring about halfway up the 100-foot slide area.
Estimated reopening time: three to four weeks.
At Paul's Slide, which is creating the northern edge of the island, the earth was already moving before recent storms, and people should expect one-way traffic control for the long term at this area. But the recent rain accelerated the movement, Drabinski said, forcing sections of protective railing known as K-Rail into the highway.
"A 20-foot segment of K-Rail weighs about 8,000 pounds and is locked in with pins to its neighboring rail or to the ground, just to give you an idea of the force," he said. "Movement at Paul’s Slide is unpredictable. The slope continues to adjust as the slide moves."
Estimated reopening time (for one-way traffic): three to four weeks.
To the south, at Polar Star, a slide on Jan. 4 covered the highway with debris. Caltrans workers cut a path through to enable equipment to pass that they are using to remove the material, Drabinski said. The highway might appear clear, but he noted that workers are also approaching this slide from the top and will be dropping rock down onto the roadway.
Estimated reopening time: four weeks.
The explanations and timeline are overdue, Kronlund says—there's been inconsistent messaging about what is open to whom. Finally, in the past three days, the Big Sur community has come to realize they're facing hard closures for another four weeks.
Big Sur Fire and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office have formed a unified command and in coordination with nonprofits like CABS, Big Sur CERT and the Big Sur Health Center, a helicopter resupply has been scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26 and Friday, Jan. 27. The helicopter is provided by CHP.
Residents of the "island" can plan to pick up supplies both days between noon and 2pm at the Sand Dollar Beach Day Use Area on Highway 1. On Thursday, Big Sur Fire volunteers will distribute drinking water and ready-to-eat meals (MREs). On Friday, they will distribute groceries, medications, pet food and other essentials.
(CABS has been coordinating orders for groceries at the Safeway at the Crossroads in Carmel, and ordering food for livestock from the SPCA Monterey County. The Food Bank for Monterey County will also provide additional food.)
There will likely be additional deliveries by air in the coming weeks. Trash removal will need to be figured out as well.
During slides in 2017 that also created a "Big Sur Island" effect, officials cut a trail to enable residents to hike around the road closure to access Highway 1. Unlike that event, the slides here are in more isolated areas without any obvious access path. Los Burros Road is impassable in places, Kronlund says, and even if you could use it to get to Nacimiento-Fergusson Road—a paved road that goes east to King City—Nacimiento-Fergusson Road is also torn up by roads.
"If you try to go around the slides, there are no roads—there’s just nothing there," Kronlund says.
Residents in this remote stretch of coast are resilient and generally have supplies for an emergency, but this one has been long already.
"It is creating huge, real pickle for a lot of people," Kronlund says.
Dorosz notes that two medical emergencies have already required helicopters; she drove one patient in her truck to an evacuation. One patient, suffering from a broken neck, was picked up by helicopter at Ragged Point to get to medical care.
"My 80-year-old neighbor ran out of high pressure medication," Dorosz adds. "My dad is running low on his heart medications. There are many others who are facing similar challenges."
If there's good news, Kronlund says it's that residents finally have clarity from Caltrans about the hard closures and a timeline for reopening.
"We have been scrambling to get a helicopter to fly in food and pet supplies and medications and all the things that are necessary for people to be able to survive inside that island," he says.
Starting tomorrow and Friday, those first deliveries are on their way.