Quick Take
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is seeking input on a coastal resiliency project along Highway 1 on the county's north coast, with a workshop on the project set for the end of January. Meanwhile, the Watsonville Police Department received a state grant for bicycle and pedestrian safety efforts.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is asking the public for input on a coastal resiliency project planned for an area along Highway 1 on the county’s north coast.
The project, called the San Vicente-Waddell Resilience Project, seeks to find ways to protect the Highway 1 bridge over Waddell Creek at the western edge of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line corridor, and the Highway 1 bridge over San Vicente Creek at Davenport. These areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as sea level storm surges, coastal erosion, flooding and increased erosion following wildfires. It is a joint effort among the RTC, the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County and Caltrans District 5.
The project comes with the possibility that these pieces of infrastructure might have limited options for improved resilience, as they are largely located in ecologically sensitive coastal and marsh areas. For that reason, the project will identify short-, medium- and long-term options for resilience and project viability, along with vetting ecological restoration opportunities inside the tidal, marsh and riparian areas of Waddell Creek and San Vicente Creek. The goal is to implement nature-based solutions or otherwise ecologically conscious projects that improve resilience.
The organizations in charge of the project have put out a request for consultant proposals, which are due by April 2.
Anyone interested in learning more about the project, the environment in the work area, various climate resiliency options and sharing input about the project can come to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on the Westside on Jan. 27 between 6 and 7:30 p.m.
Watsonville Police Department awarded state grant for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements
The California Office of Traffic Safety awarded a $128,336 grant to the Watsonville Police Department to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety along the city’s streets.
The grant program runs through September 2026, which is the same time frame as a grant the department received in October, which is funding programs such as DUI checkpoints and patrols, community presentations on pertinent traffic safety issues, officer training and more.
While there were few specifics given in the police department’s announcement on social media, it said the funding will help promote safe practices for pedestrians and cyclists and encourage alert driving.
The department will partner with Ecology Action, a nonprofit that helps businesses and governments design and implement sustainable transportation, efficient energy and water conservation programs.
Latest news
Check out our Carmageddon road project list here. This week, pay particular attention to:
- Roadway improvements are shutting down one lane of Highway 9 between Golf Club Drive and the Rincon Railroad Crossing and Graham Hill Road/Bennett Street and Willow Brook/Locust Drive on Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Bridge work will cause an overnight closure of northbound and southbound Highway 1 between Bay Avenue and Park Avenue on Sunday night into Monday morning from 10 p.m. to 6 a.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, 2026, 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.
- A full closure of the Murray Street Bridge is scheduled to run until February. It is closed to vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. Vehicle traffic detours are along Soquel Avenue and Capitola Road via Seabright Avenue and 7th Avenue. Bicycles are being detoured across Arana Gulch and along Broadway via Seabright Avenue and 7th Avenue. Pedestrians are being detoured around the north harbor.
- 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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