Quick Take
Two concurrent projects will affect traffic along Graham Hill Road and other roads in the Scotts Valley area as crews relocate, replace and construct pipelines in an effort to connect the public water agencies in Santa Cruz County and ensure reliability of the water supply.
For the next 18 months, the City of Santa Cruz Water Department will be relocating nearly 4 miles of pipeline under Graham Hill Road between Scotts Valley and Felton, which will lead to various road delays across a few stretches of mountain roads.
The $29 million project will relocate 3.7 miles of the Newell Creek Pipeline from Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park to underneath Graham Hill Road in an effort to protect the water supply pipeline from storm damage, which has become a greater risk in recent years due to climate change-related weather patterns. Pre-construction work began in February, with a spring groundbreaking date still to be determined.
The pipeline, built in 1960, moves water between the Loch Lomond Reservoir and the Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant, which serves the City of Santa Cruz. City water director Heidi Luckenbach told Lookout that the pipeline needs to be replaced. That means that when the project is done, the pipeline running beneath Graham Hill Road will be a brand-new piece of infrastructure, and the water running through the existing pipeline will be diverted into the new one.
“It’ll increase its overall reliability not only for the city, but for neighboring agencies,” she said, adding that the city has modified its water rights, allowing it to share its water sources more easily with other nearby agencies such as the Scotts Valley Water District, San Lorenzo Valley Water District and Soquel Creek Water District.
Luckenbach said the pipeline in its current Henry Cowell location gets damaged by storms about “every other year,” due to heavy rains shifting the hilly terrain on top of it. That forces the department to shut off the pipeline and bring contractors out to get the pipeline back in service and pull water from North Coast sources, Live Oak groundwater or Soquel Creek’s intertie.
The project area stretches from Sims Road to Zayante Road, and will be broken up into two stages. The city plans to start construction on the stretch of road from Sims Road to the 4600 block of Graham Hill Road later this spring. Work on the stretch from the 4600 block of Graham Hill Road to Zayante Road is slated to start in 2026.
In addition to the Newell Creek Pipeline, the city water department is also working on a new intertie pipeline between the Scotts Valley Water District and the city of Santa Cruz. Luckenbach said this project will establish a new connection between the two agencies allowing them to easily share water that has already been treated, and according to the city’s project page, the intertie will be the final link connecting all public water agencies from La Selva Beach to the San Lorenzo Valley.
Luckenbach said the project allows local water agencies to more easily draw from both ground and surface water sources without overusing either.
The Scotts Valley intertie is in a smaller project, stretching about 2 miles from Sims Road to 6000 La Madrona Drive, where crews will build a new pump station. The project is expected to take only a year to complete, beginning later this spring.
As both projects involve a new pipeline beneath roads, there will be traffic impacts. For the Newell Creek Pipeline project, there will be alternating one-way traffic control between Sims Road and the 4600 block of Graham Hill Road between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays starting later this spring. The same traffic controls will be implemented between the 4600 Graham Hill Road and Zayante Road when work begins on that section in 2026.
Commuters will also see alternating one-way traffic on both La Madrona and Sims Road, as well as occasional closures of the Sims Road off-ramp from southbound Highway 17.
There will be a virtual meeting about the Newell Creek Pipeline project on Wednesday at noon. Those interested in attending can register here. Residents near the project area or commuters who might be affected can sign up for biweekly email updates for both projects. Sign up here for Newell Creek Pipeline updates and here for Scotts Valley intertie updates.
Rail trail decisions upcoming for Santa Cruz, Capitola city councils
Two sections of Coastal Rail Trail are in focus at the Santa Cruz and Capitola City Council meetings this week.
A short but difficult section of the rail trail that is more than two years behind schedule could receive more funding on Tuesday, should the Santa Cruz City Council approve it.
Project staff are requesting $900,000 for rail trail Segment 7 Phase 2 — which will run from the intersection of Bay Street and California Street on the Westside to the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Beach Street by the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf — to cover additional, unforeseen project costs due to heavy winter storms over the past two years. The staff report says that the harsh winters prompted design changes to stabilize the soil, block groundwater and refill eroded parts of the site.
The extra funding would allow crews to finish the project this spring, according to the staff report. Once completed, Segment 7 will run all the way from Natural Bridges State Beach to the wharf. The project budget was previously amended in November 2023, when the city council approved an additional $2.95 million.
In Capitola, councilmembers are set vote Thursday to approve an outreach strategy, including an April 2 town hall meeting, to discuss the various rail trail issues in the city, including the Capitola trestle, Park Avenue trail options, mobile home encroachments in Live Oak, and the Zero Emission Passenger Rail & Trail Project.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission brought plans to the Capitola City Council in February for where Segment 11 could run, envisioning that less than a mile of the trail would deviate from the rail line in the area and run onto Park Avenue within the city of Capitola. RTC and county staff said that building a buffered bike lane along Park Avenue would be less expensive than on the ocean side of the tracks, where it was initially proposed. Due to community pushback, the city council ultimately delayed an official vote, and asked the RTC to provide more details to residents and officials before a final decision.
While the staff report says that Capitola City Council members would attend the April 2 meeting, there would not be any formal action. If approved, the meeting would be held at New Brighton Middle School from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Staff is also recommending that the city council hold a special meeting April 17 to make a final decision on the Park Avenue trail option.
Latest news
Check out our Carmageddon road project list here. This week, pay particular attention to:
- Caltrans expects the on-ramp to southbound Highway 1 from Bay Avenue in Capitola to reopen Saturday, following a roadway excavation. It has been closed since late September to allow construction crews to build a new ramp. Drivers can take a detour north on Porter Street to Soquel Drive, then east to Park Avenue, where they can rejoin Highway 1. They may also head south on Bay Avenue to Park Avenue, and rejoin southbound Highway 1 there.
- Striping work will prompt overnight closures of the northbound and southbound Highway 1 off-ramps at Bay Avenue/Porter Street, Park Avenue and State Park Drive between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. from Sunday through Friday.
- Tree work and slope repair will close down sections of Highway 9 from Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those sections are between Vernon Street and the Paradise Park exit, Brown Gables Road and Prospect Avenue, Prospect Avenue and Lorenzo Avenue, and Stapp Road and Waterman Gap.
- In Watsonville, a single lane on Green Valley Road from Holohan Road to Casserly Road is closed for the Multi-Use Trail Improvement Project. Lane closures occur from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Additionally, a single lane is closed on Buena Vista Drive and Ranport Road for overhead tree trimming on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., causing potential delays.
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