Devil's Slide tunnels update

The tunnels will be open soon, which should also mean less rental revenue for Pacifica.

San Francisco Chronicle/Michale Cabanatuan, staff writer, 12/27/12. "Devil's Slide tunnels not ready yet."

"When it rains, the towering rocky hills and cliffs that hold Highway 1 high above the Pacific Ocean in San Mateo County start to slide.  That's how Devil's Slide earned its name, and it's why Caltrans is building the state's first highway tunnel in almost 50 years - to carry drivers safely around the precarious stretch of pavement that pulls toward the Pacific when it rains, causing many road closures, some that have lasted for months.

Soon goodbye to this part of highway 1 at Devil's Slide, photo 4/3/06 *

When the tunnels open, McHugh said, they'll deliver two big benefits to the San Mateo County coast, the most important of them a dependable highway. "The road will no longer go down every few years and turn us into the longest cul-de-sac in the world," she said.

The tunnels, she said, may also lure more visitors by eliminating a stretch of highway many drivers have considered too dangerous to brave for a weekend drive or a quick trip to the communities on the San Mateo County coast.

Bike riders and hikers will benefit, too. When the tunnels open, Caltrans will abandon the 1.2-mile stretch of Highway 1 and turn it over to San Mateo County, which will spend about nine months converting it into the first phase of the Devil's Slide Coastal Trail. Then it will be turned over to hikers and bikers. "It's a wonderful, beautiful view," McHugh said, "and we really don't get to see it while we're driving by."  Read article.  * Photograph from the article by David Paul Morris, 4/3/06.

Previous Fix Pacifica articles -  Devil's Slide.

Posted by Kathy Meeh