Quick Take
The county’s annual roadwork reached North County last week and will continue in the area through late August. Meanwhile, the property dispute between the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and Aptos property owners is now scheduled to go to trial in early September.
Santa Cruz County’s Department of Community Development & Infrastructure is continuing its annual roadwork in North County after completing the first round of spot repairs and maintenance in the Mid-County area.
The county uses dry seasons during parts of the spring, summer and fall every year to patch up local roads that need attention and to prepare them for winter, when wet, stormy weather can both cause more damage and prevent crews from working on roads. Usually that involves a number of different things, including spot paving, cutting overgrown vegetation, drainage maintenance and repaving.
The North County road work began last week on Coolidge Drive between High Street and Hagar Drive near the main entrance of UC Santa Cruz, and heads up the mountains to Empire Grade between Ice Cream Grade and Vick Drive this week. The majority of the North County work is happening in mountain regions, on roads such as Felton Empire Road, Bear Creek Road, China Grade Road and Mount Hermon Road, among others.
Currently, the work is expected to last through Aug. 21 and will take place on weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Drivers should expect minor delays.
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Trial between RTC, Aptos property owners set for September
A trial involving the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) to determine the ownership of a piece of land in Aptos Village is now set to start on Sept. 21.
The dispute centers around the Coastal Rail Trail and the longstanding plan to build it alongside the rail line. Segment 12, which will run through Aptos Village, requires the use of some of the parking area in front of a few properties adjacent to the rail line — particularly the Bayview Hotel and Trout Gulch Crossing, which holds a number of businesses.
The matter has been working through the legal system for over two years. The RTC sued Trout Gulch Crossing owner Laurie Negro, also the owner of Betty Burgers, seeking to “quiet title” the part of land with the parking areas for Trout Gulch Crossing and Bayview Hotel. The main issue to be decided in court is what level of ownership Negro and the owner of the Bayview Hotel, Cristina Locke, have of the property versus what the RTC owns as part of its purchase of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line in 2012.
The trial is currently expected to last several days.
Latest news
Here’s what’s happening this week on our roadways:
- Utility and shoulder work is shutting down one lane in various sections of Highway 9 from Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those sections are between Graham Hill/Bennett Street and El Solyo Heights Drive, Redwood Drive and Laurel Drive, San Lorenzo Way and Lazy Woods Road, and Ramona Drive and Stapp Road.
- Bridge work is shutting down alternating lanes of Highway 9 between Pool Drive and Old County Highway and Riverdale Park and Monaco Lane until April 30, 2027.
- Roadway excavation is shutting down the southbound Highway 1 on-ramp at Park Avenue in Capitola until Aug. 19.
- There is a six-week closure of the southbound Highway 1 auxiliary lane between Soquel Drive in Live Oak and 41st Avenue in Capitola due to guardrail work.
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