Carmageddon: First step to a more bikeable and walkable Bay Street is happening this year

Another Santa Cruz transportation project aimed at improving both public transit and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is going to get off the ground later this year. It involves Bay Street, which runs all the way from West Cliff Drive by the Dream Inn to the main entrance to the UC Santa Cruz campus.

The project is split up into five phases, and spans the entire length of the major corridor.

Bay Street between California and Mission streets will see a new two-way separated bike lane, new bus stops with improved shelters and seating areas and Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements to sidewalks like textured ramps for safer and easier navigation. 

The section between Escalona Drive and Nobel Drive will see similar changes but will also be turned into a one-lane stretch going northbound, along with a new pedestrian path on the northbound side of Bay Street.

That stretch from Escalona to Nobel will get underway first, said city transportation planner Claire Gallogly. Associate engineer Miguel Lizarraga said the city expects to secure a contractor at some point in July, and crews will begin concrete pours for the sidewalks later this year. The paving of the project is happening in the spring and summer of 2025, so as to not pave during the winter and run into significant weather impacts.

Lizarraga laid out the vision for the final product. There will be one car lane going northbound toward the university and the other lane will be converted into a buffer zone between the car lane and the bike/pedestrian lane. On the southbound side, the road will be turned into just a protected bike lane.

Gallogly said that for years, people have said that this section of Bay Street has good transit service and a lot of space for cars. The city is taking the opportunity to enhance the alternative transportation features.

“We realize that we don’t need two lanes for cars; we’re able to reallocate that space to get better protected room for people walking and biking, and facilitate better connections to transit on a primary corridor,” she said.

This is just one phase of the project. The other four phases all include changes to alternative transportation infrastructure along the entire stretch of Bay Street. The stretch between California and Mission streets, for example, will see a new two-way separated bike lane and new bus stops with improved shelter and seating. Lizarraga said that the project is expected to take about three years to complete, but since each phase will be happening at a different time, traffic impacts shouldn’t be too severe in any part.

Latest news

Check out our Carmageddon road delay list here. This week, pay particular attention to:

The Pure Water Soquel water purification project continues to move forward, and its current work will affect parts of Laurel Street in Santa Cruz. The installation of an architectural cover for the piping along the Laurel Street bridge will continue this week between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., shutting down one lane of eastbound Laurel Street.

Drainage work will shut down the onramp at northbound 41st Avenue and northbound Highway 1 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. from Monday through Wednesday. 

Drainage work will also shut down the onramp at southbound Soquel Drive and southbound Highway 1 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. from Monday through Thursday. 

Caltrans maintenance is removing overgrown vegetation and trimming trees on southbound Highway 17 between Idylwild Road and Summit Road south of Los Gatos this week. It will shut down the farthest right lane of traffic between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from Monday through Friday.

Highway 9 from lower Glen Arbor Road to upper Glen Arbor Road will be closed 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday for tree work. Residents will be allowed through the closure area.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.