California’s most famous road trip is back on. For the first time in 14 months, Highway 1 — aka the Pacific Coast Highway — is open without interruption, after a quarter-mile chunk of it in Big Sur was wiped away in a massive landslide last year.

Over the years, landslides have taken out portions of the iconic highway — a National Scenic Byway and one of the nation’s 31 All-American Roads but none were as big as the so-called Mud Creek slide in May 2017, when more than 6 million cubic yards of earth collapsed into the sea following torrential rains.

Repairs to the roadway, engineered by the California Department of Public Transportation (Caltrans) and completed ahead of schedule on July 18, cost $54 million. It was a complex and precarious project — carried out at more than 200 feet above sea level — that included the construction of a quarter mile of "new roadway alignment built on the slide material and the addition of compacted embankments at the north and south ends," according to a Caltrans news release.

Visitors, who come from around the world to drive the scintillating 90-mile section of the cliff-hugging highway between San Luis Obispo and Carmel, are rejoicing the reopening — as are owners and employees of businesses and attractions along the route.

Restaurants, including Nepenthe, a legendary cliff-top haunt of artists and writers, and hotels, such as the luxury resort Ventana, were especially hard hit, losing up to 40 percent of revenue because of the landslide.

"The reopening of Highway 1 is very important for local communities and businesses in Big Sur," says Michelle Carlen, president of the Central Coast Tourism Council.

"We’re looking forward to welcoming more travelers and once again giving them the most memorable road trip experience that California has to offer."

For more information, go to www.centralcoast-tourism.com.