---
title: "Erosion Prevention: How California Is Saving the Pacific Coast Highway Before El Niño Arrives"
description: California is acting early to protect Pacific Coast Highway from El Niño. Six proven methods, from sand engines to moving roads inland.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-10-29T08:56:15.994Z
updated: 2026-10-29T08:58:52.861Z
canonical: https://richtravelmagazine.com/article/erosion-prevention-pacific-coast-highway
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-8147170.webp
categories: Smart Travel
content_type: Feature
region: California
publication: Rich Travel Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

On the bluff above Moro Beach, between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, a long sheet of plastic now covers a crack nearly 400 feet long (about 120 metres) in the earth beneath Pacific Coast Highway. Caltrans crews spotted the cracking on 10th October, after weeks of hurricane swell and high tides had worn away the base of the cliff. Within days they had narrowed the road to one lane in each direction between Reef Point Drive and Irvine Cove Drive, cut the speed limit to 25 mph (40 km/h), secured $4 million in emergency funding and started work. The road has stayed open throughout.

On 27th October, Governor Gavin Newsom came to Crystal Cove State Park and signed an executive order to protect the whole of Highway 1 before the El Niño storms arrive. State officials have warned that this winter's El Niño could be the strongest on record. The response at Crystal Cove shows the shift now under way along the California coast: leaders are spending money before a slope fails rather than after it falls into the sea.

If you lead a city, a company or a community on any coastline, the methods they are using are worth knowing. Each one has already worked somewhere.

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