Quick Take
The Capitola City Council approved plans for pavement rehabilitation and various striping and multimodal improvements to 41st Avenue at its Thursday meeting. The work is expected to cost $1.6 to $2.1 million.
The Capitola City Council voted to approve $1.7 million plans for pavement rehabilitation, signage improvements and striping changes to 41st Avenue at its Thursday meeting.
Although Councilmembers Melinda Orbach and Joe Clarke were absent, Councilmembers Gerry Jensen and Susan Westman and Mayor Margaux Morgan all voted in favor of advancing the plans.
Capitola Public Works Director Jessica Kahn said the pavement rehabilitation process would involve recycling the current pavement by pulling up the first few inches of the street, crumbling it up, putting it back down and then paving over it. “It’s more than just a mill and fill or an overlay,” she said. “It’s stabilizing that pavement surface, which is really important on an artery of that size.”
Kahn said crews will also bring curb ramps into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The plans also include repainted green striping for cyclists through intersections along the road. There will also be new delineators creating a separated bike lane from just north of Auto Plaza Drive and stretching over the bridge across Highway 1.
However, those delineators will change the way drivers navigate the area. Currently, vehicles can exit southbound Highway 1 onto 41st Avenue and cross directly over the road to get back onto the southbound highway. The delineators and curb will prevent that.
The city received $1 million from the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s consolidated grant program in December 2023 for pavement rehabilitation and safety improvements along the major north-south artery. In September 2024, the city council allocated those funds for design and permitting, according to a staff report.
The project’s construction costs are expected to range from $1.6 million to $2.1 million. There is currently just over $2 million budgeted for the project in the upcoming fiscal year, with $350,000 budgeted for design, environmental clearance, permitting, and pre-construction work. Because the project might cost more than the $1.7 million the city has available for construction, Kahn said the construction bids will be split up.
The city will prioritize the “base bid,” which involves work within the Caltrans right-of-way from Gross Road to Capitola city limits to the north, as it is the part of the road in the worst condition. Then, if the budget allows, the city will move forward with the work from Gross Road to Clares Street.
Westman said she is looking forward to the project moving ahead, but expressed some concern about bike lanes running between a straightaway lane and a right-turn lane and the possibility of accidents occurring. Kahn said there are few options to remedy that risk.
“The only way to do that would be to narrow the median,” she said. “That’s where more additional square footage would have to come from.”
Work will take place during the night to minimize disruption, and nearby businesses and residents will be informed of the schedule before the project begins.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.