Carmageddon: Capitola City Council greenlights slate of improvements for Bay Avenue corridor

Capitola took another step toward reshaping one of its busiest thoroughfares Thursday, approving a number of improvements to Bay Avenue, ahead of final decisions on the roadway on Aug. 27.

The Bay Avenue corridor has been a focus for its apparent danger to pedestrians and cyclists. A serious injury crash involving a pedestrian last summer marked at least the sixth pedestrian hurt or killed in the area since 2017. In 2023, Capitola resident Debra Towne was killed in a hit-and-run while walking on Bay Avenue. A previous presentation from engineering planning and design consulting firm Kimley-Horn showed 42 total collisions between 2014 and 2025.

Capitola Public Works Director Jessica Kahn said the road is a priority corridor in the city’s local road safety plan that was adopted earlier this year. At a city council meeting in May, the previous time the corridor was a point of discussion, the council requested that city staff look for lower-cost improvements that are faster to implement, which Kahn then presented on Thursday.

“A lot of the improvements include lighting. That’s something we heard from the council and from the public, and also recommended in our local road safety plan as a countermeasure to accidents in this corridor,” said Kahn.

Kahn said that the staff recommends pursuing solar lighting, which she said is faster to install. She added that the recommendation for the Bay Avenue-Center Street intersection is to implement a raised pedestrian crossing with ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, curb extensions and a refuge median in the middle of the street. At the Bay Avenue-Hill Street intersection, staff recommended more permanent flashing signage along with solar lighting enhancements.

Kahn said there are a number of other areas along Bay Avenue mentioned in the local road safety plan, including Crossroads Loop, Oak Drive and Burlingame Avenue. At these locations, improvements could involve solar lighting if it doesn’t affect local residences too much, higher visibility striping and pavement markings, and pedestrian crossing signs. However, there are no recommendations for bicycle infrastructure improvements on the corridor at this time.

“We expect to get recommendations about bike movements in the city in general from our active transportation plan which is currently being developed,” said Kahn.

The city council decided to move forward with the painting enhancements, striping improvements and new lighting to the Bay Avenue-Hill Street intersection, and committed to deciding what to do on the rest of the corridor on Aug. 27.

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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 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those sections are between Glen Arbor Road and Arboleda Way, Pool Drive and Old County Highway, Ramona Drive and Stapp Road and Mitchell Drive and the Camp Campbell Entrance.

• The San Lorenzo River and Kings Creek bridge replacement project will cause an overnight closure of Highway 9 near Boulder Creek from Pool Drive to Primavera/Old County Highway between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Thursday and alternating one-way traffic that same night from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

• 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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