The news about the highway's potential reopening began to circulate around Big Sur during the holidays. Caltrans officials let those in the region know that they were making steady progress on Regent's Slide and could have the highway open by the first of the year.

Under crystal clear skies, three years to the day after the first of a series of landslides cut off access to the full Big Sur coast, the California’s iconic Highway 1 finally fully reopened on Wednes...