Convoys escort people stranded in Big Sur after chunk of Hwy. 1 fell into the sea

Nobody knows for sure how many people were caught between Highway 1 road closures in Big Sur on Saturday after a piece of the scenic road crumbled away during the weekend’s storm — but latest estimates place the number at about 1,600 people.

The slipout was near Big Creek, about half a mile north of the famed Bixby Bridge. A sizeable chunk of the southbound lane of the narrow scenic highway slid down the hill into the sea late Saturday.

The damage undermined the rest of that lane, according to Caltrans engineers, forcing a closure.

With other Highway 1 sites being repaired due to previous slides and damage, through traffic is essentially stopped northbound just south of Limekiln State Park and southbound at Palo Colorado, about 13 miles south of Carmel-by-the Sea.

Caltrans spokesman Kevin Drabinski told The Tribune that Matt Harris of Big Sur Fire did a survey of the latest closure area, and estimated there were approximately 1,600 people stuck there overnight.

Drabinski said Easter Sunday morning, after the scientists used sophisticated techniques and finished their first pass at assessing the damage there, they decided that carefully monitored travel in the northbound lane was safe — at least for now.

“They determined that movement under the roadway was static, and the northbound lane was viable for cars to pass on it,” Drabinski said.

Caltrans then began the first of what are likely to be twice-daily convoys for the foreseeable future, allowing people to head north again.

Those guided processions at noon and 4 p.m. will help people get past the closure, especially holiday travelers, but also residents needing to get out and back in and those on essential trips to deliver food, propane and other items to the affected area.

Courtesy of the convoys, “nobody’s trapped now,” Drabinski said.

“Yesterday was probably the highest volume of people leaving the area,” he said.

After people queued up, “we released the queue in the northbound direction first,” he said, “and after that queue went through, we let the people heading southbound go through.”

“Over 300 vehicles went through northbound,” he added. Drabinski didn’t have an estimate of the southbound count.

There will be two exceptions to the temporary convoy schedule, Drabinski said: changes to conditions at the repair site and wet weather. Those changes will be announced when and if they happen.

“We’re keeping an eye on the weather forecasts for later this week,” he said.

Drabinski said the next steps will be “to stabilize the edge of the roadway and design a permanent repair.”

He said crews will place 500 feet of concrete barriers along the center of the road in the next several days.

“This will help define a channel for convoy vehicles to pass through and will provide protection for workers working on repairs,” he said.

In a related decision, the California Department of State Parks announced that all state parks in Big Sur have been closed for day use and camping.

Existing reservations are being canceled, and those who had reservations will receive refunds.