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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.
