Highway 1 through Big Sur extends from Carmel-by-the-Sea in the north to the junction of Highway 1 and State Route 46 in the south. It provides access to residences, businesses, and public facilities as well as being a key transportation corridor between communities and activity centers to the north and south. Visitor demand along the Big Sur Coast Highway exemplifies the popularity of access to recreation areas and the desire for scenic recreational touring. Private automobile use along the highway is increasingly unsustainable—reducing the quality of the visitor experience, creating operational concerns, and degrading the natural, human, and historical attributes of the highway.
Caltrans worked with a Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which included the Transportation Agency and other stakeholders from different regions along the corridor as well as interested residents, to develop a Sustainable Transportation Demand Management Plan. The Plan provides a collaborative and comprehensive framework to address the increasing visitor demand along the Big Sur Coast in an efficient and environmentally-sustainable way.
The Plan builds upon the 1986 Big Sur Coast Land Use Plan and the 2004 Big Sur Coast Highway Management Plan to develop a set of goals and strategies to address visitor demands along the highway. One of the key principles of the Plan is collaboration among stakeholders to address shared issues. It encompasses the many goals from a wide range of stakeholders, while also planning for future changes in transportation patterns and trends. It addresses issues associated with the Highway 1 corridor, including limited off-highway parking, visitors walking along the highway, increased travel times, guidelines for potential electric vehicle charging stations, and other operational concerns. Also addressed are the physical and environmental constraints which limit the ability and appropriateness of expanding the footprint of roads, parking areas, and other transportation infrastructure.
Today's presentation to the Board will be given by John Olejnik, Senior Transportation Planner, Caltrans District 5.