Carmageddon: Harbor access roads join Murray Street closure; input requested for Bethany Curve public art

If you were hoping to get to the Santa Cruz Harbor by foot or bike on the harbor access roads, you’ll have to switch your plans up. As crews begin to install new piles as part of the Murray Street Bridge project, the access road that runs beneath the east side of the bridge will be closed for five months. 

People on foot and bike can still get to the main recreational area of the harbor, albeit in a more roundabout way. If coming from the west side of the bridge or Arana Gulch, take the Brommer Street exit of the harbor, make a right down 7th Avenue, and another right down Eaton Street, where you’ll run right into the east side of the bridge and will be able to access the harbor.

While the east access road is slated to remain closed until January, the west access road will still be open to the public. Pedestrians and cyclists can still use the road that surrounds the harbor all the way around the north harbor near Arana Gulch to where the harbor’s dredge is parked just north of the bridge. 

Since the beginning of the bridge reconstruction project, the City of Santa Cruz has planned to intermittently close the harbor access roads throughout the three-year construction period, but maintained that both paths would never be closed at the same time. Kevin Crossley, assistant director of the city’s public works department, said the closure, which began last week, is a safety decision. 

The process of pile-driving — inserting large nail-like structures into the bottom of the harbor to strengthen the footings of the bridge — requires a lot of heavy equipment staged in and around the fairly small pedestrian zone, as well as some changes to the area surrounding the path. Those include temporarily relocating rock armoring and utilities, and work on the part of the bridge that meets the land.

“Everybody thinks about this as a project that’s going to be mostly working over the water, which is a big piece of it, but there’s also going to be land site improvements,” he said.

Crossley added that some of the permanent improvements to the area include a rebuilt staircase that leads to the harbor from the west end of the bridge, new retaining walls that will widen the sidewalk where the bridge meets the road, and the removal of overhead electrical lines across the harbor to allow for a clearer view of the harbor and ocean.

There is currently another east access path closure planned for the second half of 2027, and a west access path closure planned for the first half of 2027, but those are subject to change.

“We’re always optimistic we’ll accomplish more than we think in the near term, then you have to adjust your days as you go,” said Crossley. “But we’re doing everything we can to keep those roads open as much as possible.”

Input sought for public art installation on new Bethany Curve bridge at West Cliff

With West Cliff Drive back open to two-way traffic, the effort to bring more life to the new infrastructure is underway.

The City of Santa Cruz and Community Arts and Empowerment will host a community session on Aug. 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Room at the 1030 Building at the Tannery Arts Center on River Street in Santa Cruz in order to gather input on a design for public art along the new Bethany Curve bridge west of Woodrow Avenue.

Community Arts and Empowerment is looking for an artist or team to create designs that will be made into mosaics by community members. The organization expects the project to be completed in early 2026.

The organization is accepting applications for requests for qualifications, which are due by 5 p.m. Thursday. See the key dates and requirements here.

Latest news

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

• The Highway 1 off-ramps at Park Avenue in Capitola are closed as part of the Highway 1 expansion project. The southbound off-ramp is scheduled to be closed until October. The northbound off-ramp was closed in April and and is slated to stay closed until August.

• The Highway 1 on-ramp at Park Avenue is closed for five months in order for crews to reconstruct the ramp. Northbound travelers will be directed to take Soquel Drive to Porter Street to join northbound Highway 1 at the Bay Avenue/Porter on-ramp. Southbound travelers will be directed to exit Highway 1 at the Bay/Porter off-ramp, continue on Bay Avenue to arrive at Park Avenue. The ramp is expected to reopen in November.

• Shoulder work will cause an overnight closure of one lane of northbound Highway 1 Buena Vista Drive and Rob Roy/Freedom Boulevard from Monday through Friday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

• A full closure of the Murray Street Bridge is slated to run until February 2026. It will be closed to vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Vehicle traffic will be detoured along Soquel Avenue and Capitola Road via Seabright Avenue and 7th Avenue. Bicycles will be detoured across Arana Gulch and along Broadway via Seabright Avenue and 7th Avenue. Pedestrians will be detoured around the north harbor.

• The installation of the Newell Creek Pipeline on Graham Hill Road between Summit Avenue and Lockewood Lane will take place on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and could cause delays of up to five minutes.

• Utility work will close down sections of Highway 9 between Riverdale Park and Kings Creek Bridge and Sequoia Road and the Camp Campbell Entrance from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

• Storm damage repair will shut down sections of Eureka Canyon Road in Corralitos for several months. Work will take place on weekdays only, from 7:30 a.m. through 5 p.m., and is expected to last through Oct. 31.

• The Soquel Drive Buffered Bike Lane project will run through Aug. 1 as crews finish installing the underground fiber optic cable for the new traffic signals along the road. There will be intermittent single-lane closures on Soquel Avenue from Seabright Avenue to La Fonda Avenue, Seabright Avenue from Water Street to Soquel Avenue, and Water Street from North Pacific Avenue to Seabright Avenue.

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