City to reopen eastbound lane of Murray Street Bridge on Wednesday afternoon

The City of Santa Cruz is scheduled to reopen the Murray Street Bridge’s eastbound lane Wednesday between noon and 1 p.m. The partial reopening will allow travel for vehicles and bicycles from the Seabright neighborhood toward 7th Avenue, as well as two-way pedestrian access. However, the city has not yet committed to additional traffic-control measures. 

According to Tuesday’s news release from city public works spokesperson Ashley Hussey, the city is still working to determine the feasibility of a pilot project to allow two-way vehicle and bicycle traffic.

The idea of two-way traffic is popular among community members, with an online petition garnering nearly 1,200 signatures in support of the concept as of Tuesday afternoon. Lookout has reached out to the organizers who started a petition in favor of two-way traffic and local business and entrepreneurial network nonprofit Santa Cruz Works, which supported the petition, for comment.

The bridge has been fully closed since late June 2025, and was originally scheduled to reopen in February. However, the city said earlier this month that it would reopen a few weeks earlier than expected. 

The project is making necessary updates to the bridge, but the closure has shut down a major city artery, resulting in worsened traffic congestion and consistent struggles for surrounding harbor and Seabright businesses.

Wednesday’s reopening wraps up the longest anticipated full closure of the bridge during the project, which is scheduled for completion in January 2028.

The next full closure is scheduled for June through August in order for crews to relocate a wastewater pipeline. There will be two other, short-term full closures after that, scheduled for one week in February 2027 and two weeks in December 2027.

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