Highway 1 closure to continue Wednesday night

The closure of Highway 1 between Ragged Point and Fuller’s Point will remain in effect overnight, and crews will reassess the situation Thursday morning, according to Jessica Biro, Caltrans public information officer.

Rock slides and dangerous driving conditions south of Big Sur forced California Highway Patrol to close the highway for the second time in less than a month.

“It’s just rough,” said driver Ray Hunter. “We are probably going to get home at like two in the morning now…it’s rough.”

CHP closed the road on Tuesday night from about 11 miles north of San Simeon to about 4 miles south of Big Sur, another roadblock for Hunter and his girlfriend.

“We had some car trouble in Santa Barbara,” said Hunter. “We already spent $500 to try to fix her car. We are like so broke right now just trying to get back to Orange County.”

Hunter wasn’t alone. On Wednesday, dozens of unsuspecting drivers were left with two options: wait it out or turn around.

“We will have to spend an hour and half to get to another highway to take us south,” said driver John O’Connor. Other drivers were just bummed out to not be able to see the scenic views the road typically has to offer.

“We just wanted to see the view, but there isn’t much to see because the rain and the fog,” driver Esteban Kim said.

Big Sur businesses like the Ripplewood Resort did not report any significant problems, but manager Sean Shadwell told KION that he isn’t renting out any riverside cabins this weekend because more storms are expected and the river is already raging.