Mr. Roadshow of the San Jose Mercury News writes about the construction status of Devil’s Slide Tunnel.
“Workers have drilled into and blown away mostly solid rock, which they prefer over soft, crumbling rock because it is easier to blast away neatly. They are tunneling about 15 feet a day, and they are almost two-thirds of the way through the mountain.”
Mr. Roadshow concludes, “When these tunnels are finished at last, we’ll have a lot less to be wary about.”
With regards to no longer driving the drop-down roadbed of the roller coaster ride that Highway 1 currently provides at Devil’s Slide, yes; however, I anticipate traffic to increase north and south along Highway 1 once the tunnels are complete and open. The coast is somewhat protected from the mass-weekend tourist traffic by the precarious passage of Devil’s Slide. Once the tunnels open and ease the drive, we will see many more visitors, property values will increase, and the isolation that the community once experienced will vanish, forever.
If you are interested in reading more about this project, visit CalTrans’ District 4 Devil’s Slide Project page. An excellent chronicle is Eric Rice’s 3-part series on how the project came to be, or purchase Barbara VanderWerf’s book on the history of the route over Montara Mountain.
The Coast Road 
Slow down RJ. It’s not a freaking autobahn.
If they don’t put some kind of passing lane/posted turnout somewhere along there I will be mad. I HATE..sitting behind rubbernecking tourists trying to take pictures whilst driving. If having the tunnel gives me one more chance to get passed a few of them, that will be grand. It is crazy that going north from HMB the last place where there is 2 lane passing is in Princeton. The last broken yellow line is at the north end of the airport.
How’s that Joey? I don’t know of a connection between this tunnel decision and MWO?
Margeret Wentworth Oweings is spinning in her grave.
That slope at Pitkin’s Curve is impressive. It is the one dependable spot for road trouble during our wettest of winters, and even the average ones. I’ll create a post on that here, but I look forward to also seeing your photos.
A tunnel was one of the projects considered for Rain Rocks, just north of Limekiln. Instead we opted for a “rock shed” built up against the mountain, with opening along the coastal side. Should be interesting.
Darn, I need to remember to document it in photographs along the way.