BIG SUR – Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that a section of Highway 1 that was closed when a portion of the cliff collapsed will reopen to unrestricted signal-controlled traffic on May 25.
Newsom signed the emergency declaration, securing an estimated $100 million in federal funding for repairs statewide.
Newsom appeared Friday at Rocky Creek Bridge along Big Sur, just north of the site of the Highway 1 ramp in the southbound lane. Caltrans has been directing convoys through the area twice a day in the northbound lane since April 1.
Newsom said in a statement that crews will install a temporary signal and open Highway 1 to unrestricted traffic under rotating one-way traffic control.
Tayfun Coskun via Getty Images
Caltrans’ federal emergency funds, from the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief Program, require repairs to be completed within the first 180 days of an emergency to qualify for 100 percent federal funding.
The state of emergency applies to the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Trinity and Ventura .
