If you like road trips, you probably know that, beyond Route 66, the United States is home to other highways that are a perfect setting for this type of trip. One of them is the highway that runs along the Pacific coast connecting Los Angeles with San Francisco. A journey that today is impossible to carry out because torrential rains have sunk part of California’s Highway One.
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Also known as Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) travel along the coast by the hand of the Pacific Ocean. Curdled with unique sights and landscapes, it is one of the favorite routes for Americans and tourists who flock there. However, both will see their journey interrupted because the consequences of the torrential rains suffered in a part of Route 1 have already become evident: a part of the famous road has been washed into the sea.
South of Monterrey
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has published a series of images captured by drones in which we can see the part of the road that has collapsed. A stretch that is located in Big Sur, a sparsely populated region of California located south of the Monterey Peninsula and where the Santa Lucia Mountains emerge from the Pacific Ocean.
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The damage caused to the pavement has caused the closure of this part of the route until further notice. According to Caltrans, Big Sur is still open and accessible from the north as the problem lies the other way. All those entering from Ragged Point will find that their 45-mile journey has been transformed into a 200-mile journey.
Something recurring
The truth is that this is not an isolated episode in the history of Highway One in California. Taking into account that it is a road that runs on the edge of multitude of cliffs, it suffers especially when heavy rains or even typhoons hit. Thus, the Pacific Coast Highway is used to partial or total closures due to the damage caused by these phenomena.
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Not surprisingly, in 2017 a part of the slopes of Mud Creek collapsed and sank part of Route 1 causing the road to close for more than a year. Recurrent episodes that have made, on countless occasions, the residents of the area call attention to it so that the relevant authorities consider what will happen to the future of Route 1.
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