Carmageddon: Highway 17 corridor plan prioritizes congestion relief, safety and climate resiliency

Caltrans and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission hosted the first of two public engagement meetings for a long-term plan for the Highway 17 corridor on Thursday evening, where Caltrans planners discussed priorities for one of the region’s major highways, which include safety, congestion relief and climate resiliency.

Highway 17 runs through Caltrans Districts 4 and 5, so both are collaborating on the plan, which is currently in the public outreach phase. Thursday’s meeting provided a high-level overview of the goals and priorities for the plan as the agencies work toward finishing a draft by spring.

Caltrans District 5 Regional Planner Kelly McClendon said safety is the agency’s highest priority, and referenced data collected in partnership with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) that shows speeding is the primary cause of collisions 52% of the time. He said that mobility projects such as reconfiguring interchanges or adding auxiliary lanes along the road could make it safer. Outside of tangible infrastructure upgrades, McClendon said other safety measures could look like educational programs and outreach to combat speeding, in partnership with various entities such as the Safe on 17 task force. 

McClendon also gave widening shoulders and turnouts along some stretches of road as an example. The CHP operates in these areas to stage vehicles and enforce speeding rules.

“Something like a shoulder widening, even though it doesn’t seem like it’s directly related to speeding, is something that could be helpful to combat the speeding we’re seeing,” he said.

With little respite from traffic backups, McClendon also said congestion relief is predictably at the top of mind, as many people use the highway to commute to and from work between the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast. 

Given the corridor’s unique travel patterns, McClendon said public transit is the most useful tool to effectively mitigate congestion. While Santa Cruz Metro’s Highway 17 Express provides consistent service, he said there’s room for expansion.

“We expect to be looking into ideas for expanding locations where the 17 Express serves right now,” McClendon said. “One of those is potentially the Highway 85 corridor.”

McClendon said active transportation, such as walking and cycling, is another area to explore even if it seems out of left field. The agencies are considering more overcrossings, like the ones included in the Highway 1 widening project, to get people out of their cars and even connect them to public transit hubs where possible.

As the Bay Area and Central Coast see more intense storms, McClendon said making Highway 17 more climate-resilient is a big priority, too. Although there are no specifics yet, the agency wants to strive for better emergency response and easier evacuations when necessary.

The plan is still in its early stages; any projects in the final version would take place over many years and would require external funding.

“In a lot of cases, for us to be able to move forward with these projects, we need strong local partnerships and funding partnerships,” said McClendon. “Very large and complex projects require grant funding from either state or federal programs most of the time.”

The agencies expect to have a draft plan by the spring and a final version by the summer. There will be another public presentation on Tuesday at 6 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 the Paradise Park exit and Keystone Way, Glengarry Road and Gail Drive, Hihn Street and San Lorenzo Valley Elementary, Coon Heights Road and Woodland Drive, and Bear Creek Road and Monaco Lane from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

• Paving is shutting down one lane of northbound and southbound Highway 1 between Park Avenue and Bay Avenue overnight between 9 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. from Monday through Friday.

• Guardrail work is shutting down the auxiliary lane and right shoulder on southbound Highway 1 between Soquel Drive and 41st Avenue until March 23.

• 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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