Quick Take
Cabrillo College’s pedestrian bridge over Soquel Drive was badly damaged in January and has been closed since. College spokesperson Kristin Fabos said engineering analyses, insurance negotiations and renovations will take time before it can be used again.
The large dent on the pedestrian bridge over Soquel Drive at Cabrillo College – there since Jan. 8 – isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And neither is the restriction that makes the bridge off-limits for those traversing Soquel Drive from the north side of the campus to the south.
Since an excavator towed by a dump truck crashed into the pedestrian bridge on westbound Soquel Drive in January, the bridge has continued to be out of commission.
The college is moving forward to get it repaired but it will take time, college spokesperson Kristin Fabos told Lookout on Wednesday. The best-case scenario, she said, is that it reopens for use in January 2025.
“We are grateful that the incident was not during the semester, when students could have been on the bridge,” she said. “That was a silver lining.”
On Jan. 8 at about 12:30 p.m., a contractor working for Santa Cruz County was towing an excavator for a bike lane project when the excavator crashed into the bridge, according to Fabos. The bridge was closed immediately. California Highway Patrol officials, who investigated the incident, said there were no injuries.
Fabos said while the school doesn’t have data on the use of the overpass, it’s a “heavily traveled bridge” because many students park on the lower side of campus and use it to reach upper campus. The bridge was built in 1962.
“We’ve been trying to encourage students to use the crosswalks, at the Cabrillo College Drive and Soquel Drive,” she said, adding that officials have noticed more students are jaywalking since the bridge closed.
The bridge had been recently retrofitted and painted before the accident. One of the remaining steps was to install electronic board signs, which would promote Cabrillo events or parking information on both sides of the bridge – something Fabos said the college still plans to install once they complete repairs.
What’s holding up the fix? It might come as no surprise to anyone who has been involved in an accident: insurance, in part.
The damaged pedestrian bridge connecting the two sides of the Cabrillo College campus over Soquel Drive in Aptos. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz 
The damaged pedestrian bridge connecting the two sides of the Cabrillo College campus over Soquel Drive in Aptos. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz
Several firms are doing analyses of the damage to the bridge, and the college’s insurance company is working with the driver’s insurance company “to come to an agreement with repairs,” Fabos said. After they reach an agreement, the college will work with the Division of the State Architect on a design-and-repair plan.
The costs? At this point, unknown, as is the amount insurance might cover.
“The current plan is to have the bridge fixed, pending the outcome of the structural analyses,” Fabos said. “That’s the plan and the hope.”
The overall timeline is also unknown. But the earliest the bridge could reopen for use is January 2025.
“That’s in a perfect-case scenario,” she said. “It may be longer than that.”
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