{"id":328120,"date":"2026-05-22T18:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328120\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:03:16","slug":"bixby-bridge-could-see-parking-ban-as-travel-to-big-sur-explodes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/328120\/","title":{"rendered":"Bixby Bridge could see parking ban as travel to Big Sur explodes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tourists chasing the perfect shot of one of California\u2019s most famous bridges<\/a> could soon find themselves out of luck.<\/p>\n

Monterey County supervisors are weighing a sweeping proposal to ban parking for a full year at the legendary Bixby Bridge after years of influencer-fueled chaos turned the scenic Highway 1 landmark into what locals say is a dangerous free-for-all.<\/p>\n

The board voted Tuesday to have staff explore a temporary yearlong ban on parking on or near the bridge \u2014 a hotspot for selfie seekers, photographers and tourists who clog the narrow coastal highway.<\/p>\n

The recent reopening of Highway 1 has only intensified the madness. Brandon Olafsson \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Supervisor Kate Daniels pushed the issue before the board after months of talks. arkanto \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

But before any crackdown can happen, officials still need to iron out major issues including enforcement, emergency access and legal hurdles tied to California\u2019s coastal rules.<\/p>\n

The bridge, roughly 60 miles north of the San Luis Obispo-Monterey county line, has become ground zero for reckless tourist behavior, with drivers stopping in traffic, making dangerous U-turns and swarming the roadway for photos.<\/p>\n

The result has been nightmare traffic jams stretching up to a mile in both directions \u2014 and mounting fears that somebody will eventually be killed.<\/p>\n

Officials previously blocked off 12 unofficial parking spaces near the bridge in an attempt to keep traffic moving. Caters News Agency<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Some incidents have already pushed locals to the brink.<\/p>\n

\u201cI once had the (driver of a) car in front of me stop just before the bridge, heading south, get out of his car, lock it, then walk off to take a photo. Left his locked car in the middle of the road,\u201d Kate Novoa, better known as \u201cBig Sur Kate\u201d, told The Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens more often than one can imagine \u2026 selfie people are killing Big Sur.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent reopening of Highway 1 after three years of landslide repairs has only intensified the madness.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cVisitation has surged significantly since the roadway reopened on Jan. 15. Northbound traffic at Ragged Point has grown more than 900% year-over-year \u2014 clear evidence of restored access and pent-up demand for travel to this iconic coastal corridor,\u201d Visit California said in a recent Caltrans release.<\/p>\n

Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church warned the situation is becoming a ticking time bomb.<\/p>\n

Officials still need to iron out major issues including enforcement, emergency access and legal hurdles. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really concerned about the safety issue,\u201d Church said. \u201cIf people get hurt there, (or) when the first young kid gets killed crossing the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, tourists looking for a closer look at the bridge have almost nowhere safe to pull over.<\/p>\n

Drivers routinely park haphazardly along the narrow highway \u2014 sometimes partially inside traffic lanes \u2014 creating massive backups and dangerous driving conditions.<\/p>\n

Officials previously blocked off 12 unofficial parking spaces near the bridge with barriers in an attempt to keep traffic moving. Parking has also been banned since September 2024 along portions of nearby Old Coast Road.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Kate Daniels, a lifelong Big Sur resident, pushed the issue before the board after months of talks with the California Coastal Commission and county staff.<\/p>\n

With no alternate routes around the bridge, Daniels argued a temporary emergency ban would buy officials time to find a long-term solution.<\/p>\n

\u201c12 months gives us the time to come up with a safer means to travel this stretch of highway,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Still, any ban could face a rocky road ahead.<\/p>\n

The board voted Tuesday to have staff explore a temporary yearlong ban on parking on or near the bridge. Markus \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

County officials warned supervisors that parking restrictions in coastal areas are frequently challenged by the Coastal Commission, especially when public access is affected.<\/p>\n

That concern prompted Supervisors Luis Alejo and Chris Lopez to abstain from the vote.<\/p>\n

Alejo warned that even installing \u201cno parking\u201d signs would require a coastal development permit that could spark years of legal battles.<\/p>\n

Then came the question of who would actually enforce the rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnforcement issues come back to who,\u201d Lopez said, pointing to limited staffing from the California Highway Patrol and Monterey County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Lopez suggested other options may work better, including reopening some parking areas and hiring private contractors to direct traffic and issue citations.<\/p>\n

The board is expected to revisit the issue in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourists chasing the perfect shot of one of California\u2019s most famous bridges could soon find themselves out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,81333,971,2426,5277,2422,136218],"class_list":["post-328120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-influencers","tag-lifestyle","tag-parking","tag-tourism","tag-travel","tag-travel-restrictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}