One of the Best Driving Roads in the World Gets Wrecked Again
Everyone who had the chance to take their car down the West Coast know that the Pacific Coast Highway—or Highway 1—is one of the best driving and most scenic roads in the world.
However, the pride of California suffered the wrath of Mother Nature a couple of days ago.
The state’s Department of Transportation has posted drone footage of a section that collapsed and got washed away into the ocean due to torrential rains. This happened just south of the Big Sur area.
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
The road will be closed for an indefinite period of time, but it’s easy to tell repairing the damage will be a tough task. And for some drivers, the detour through Route 101 will be quite long. A user on Reddit wrote that a 70-km drive turned to a 320-km trip.
Of course, it’s not the first time the elements take away chunks of the PCH. Caught between the ocean and the mountains, the road is subject to destruction during typhoons and heavy rains.
In 2017, another collapse in the Big Sur area caused a stretch to stay closed for more than a year.
