Quick Take
Mid-County residents will encounter the first of a number of multiday closures of McGregor Drive between Park Avenue and State Park Drive on Wednesday and Thursday. The closures will be scattered across a period of about eight months. Meanwhile, Caltrans is hosting the first of two upcoming public workshops on a long-range corridor plan for Highway 17 on Thursday.
Residents in Mid-County will see the first of several multiday closures of McGregor Drive between Park Avenue and State Park Drive this week as Caltrans and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission continue their work on the Highway 1 expansion project.
The roughly 2-mile stretch of McGregor Drive between Capitola and Aptos will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., assuming weather conditions allow for the work to take place. The closures are related to the construction of the new Mar Vista Drive bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing, which is going to be similar to the “whale bridge” overcrossing at Chanticleer Avenue. When completed, the overcrossing will run over Highway 1 and connect the Seacliff area to Aptos southeast of Cabrillo College.
Crews will be working on the bridge over the span of eight months, and there will be a number of closures during that time to allow for the various stages of construction, including lifting heavy materials and removing temporary support structures ahead of the construction of the overcrossing.
In total, there will be about 25 work days over the next eight months. Each closure will last only two to three days, and will be announced in advance. There will be multiple message signs in the area leading up to and during the closures to inform commuters of the work.
Those driving in the area will be detoured to Highway 1 between the Park Avenue and State Park Drive interchanges.
This phase of the Highway 1 expansion project will add auxiliary lanes and bus-on-shoulder improvements between Bay Avenue/Porter Street and State Park Drive along with the Mar Vista overcrossing, and is scheduled to wrap up this year.
Caltrans hosting first of two public workshops on Highway 17 corridor plan on Thursday
Caltrans will hold a virtual public workshop on the Highway 17 corridor plan on Thursday evening. A second workshop is scheduled for next week, on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Caltrans Districts 4 and 5, both of which Highway 17 runs through, are working on the highway’s comprehensive multimodal corridor plan that seeks to improve safety and reliability on the major commuter artery. The plan also includes goals for improving air quality by promoting alternative modes of transportation.
The agency hasn’t released specific projects yet, but it is planning to complete a full draft plan by this spring, and a final plan by this summer. Once completed, the plan will lay out a vision, specific potential improvements and safety and resiliency measures for the corridor.
Both meetings will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Click here to join.
Latest news
Check out our Carmageddon road project list here. This week, pay particular attention to:
- Tree work, pavement repair and utility work are shutting down one lane of Highway 9 between Hihn Street and San Lorenzo Valley Elementary, Camp Sycamore Road and Rincon Creek Bridge, Glengarry Road and Redwood Drive, San Lorenzo Way and Fall Creek Bridge and Coon Heights Road and Woodland Drive from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
- Work on the Mar Vista Drive overcrossing will shut down McGregor Drive between Park Avenue and State Park Drive on Wednesday and Thursday from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Emergency sewer work in Soquel Village could occasionally block access to driveways, sidewalks, on-street parking and interrupt sewer service on weekdays until June 30, on Soquel Drive, Porter Street and Main Street. Work on Soquel Drive will be overnight from 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Porter and Main streets. Other, shorter-duration potholing on Porter, Main and Center streets and Daubenbiss Avenue will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- The installation of the Newell Creek Pipeline on Graham Hill Road between Summit Avenue and Lockewood Lane is taking place on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and could cause delays of up to five minutes.
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