DENVER -- California's scenic Highway 1 will open as one
linear, connected road by the end of September for the first time since February
2017.
Visit California CEO Caroline Beteta, speaking at the IPW conference
here, said that the last remaining piece of road to be repaired is
just north of the Hearst Castle, south of Big Sur.
Rain and mud wreaked havoc on Big Sur last year. The
Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge failed in February 2017 when the supports shifted
following heavy rain. The bridge was demolished, and a new span opened last
October.
In May 2017, the Mud Creek slide south of Big Sur buried a
stretch of Highway 1, altering the shape of the coastline. The new highway portion
is being built on top of the slide that buried the old road.
To celebrate the road's reopening, Visit California is
launching the California's Dream Drive campaign and plans to make a "big
splash" about the opening this summer.
The announcement comes after a year when
fires and mudslides in California made headlines. Visit California has since
been getting the message out that California is "open for business"
and that its tourism infrastructure has been mostly unaffected by the
disasters. Beteta encouraged people to support California by going there.
"The best way to help a destination is to visit a
destination, and it's no different in California than other destinations,"
she said.