Plans are proceeding convert the abandoned portion of California Highway 1 around Devil’s Slide into a public park. San Mateo County Parks will hold a meeting tonight at Moss Beach to present their plan for a recreational trail at Devil’s Slide and take public input.
The county is preparing to take over from Caltrans the notorious cliffside road that linked Pacifica and Montara. The Parks Department aims to open the trail in early 2014.
The Devils Slide Trail will run 1.3 miles between parking lots Caltrans has constructed near the northern and southern portals to a pair of bypass tunnels that opened in March. The 4,200-foot Tom Lantos Tunnels rendered obsolete the old stretch of Highway 1, which was prone to landslides during winter storms that caused lengthy closures.
The county’s plan calls for the trail to be about 24 feet wide, with two 6-foot bicycle lanes to the east and a 12-foot walking path closer to the cliff’s edge.
[County Supervisor Don Horsley] said he is worried there may not be enough parking spaces — there will be just 38, according to [county parks superintendent Gary] Lockman. If parking demand far exceeds capacity, Horsley said, the county may need to consider a shuttle.
The meeting takes place tonight, 7-9 PM at the Cypress Meadows Conference Center, 343 Cypress Ave., in Moss Beach.
Read more in the Mercury News. Learn more at San Mateo County Parks Devil’s Slide Trail Project.