The state approved the Carmel-San Simeon Highway in 1919. Crews included inmates from San Quentin prison, who were paid 35 cents a day and had time cut from their sentences. The route needed 33 bridges, the biggest of them Bixby Bridge. After 18 years the road opened on June 17, 1937, and was often called the Roosevelt Highway.
The Big Sur section from San Luis Obispo to Carmel is an official National Scenic Byway. Bixby Bridge, Rocky Creek Bridge and Big Creek Bridge are among its historic crossings.
North of Big Sur the highway crosses the Carmel River and runs along the east side of Carmel, which is why the city itself sits just off it.