Quick Take:
The Soquel Drive improvements continue moving forward with adaptive traffic signal installation and the construction of new sidewalks and pedestrian ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Officials expect minor traffic impacts through the summer, including short lane closures at areas of sidewalk and ramp construction.
The expansive Soquel Drive project between the Eastside of Santa Cruz and Aptos is moving towards the construction of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant curbs and completion of the adaptive traffic signal part of the project. The good news is that, even with heightened summer traffic, delays are expected to remain minimal.
The many improvements — called the Soquel Drive Buffered Bike Lane and Congestion Mitigation Project — seek to encourage locals, visitors and commuters to bike, walk and ride the bus more often. For example, Soquel Drive will get 2.7 miles of buffered bike lanes, which are lanes separated from cars by wider striping that gives more room for bikers. It will also get 2.4 miles of protected bike lanes, which include a full barrier separating cyclists from cars. The entirety of the work is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
The wide-ranging endeavor combines a number of components seen in other Santa Cruz County transportation projects that are shooting to expand and improve the county’s active transportation infrastructure — features promoting travel through non-motorized means. Currently, the two major pieces of work in progress are the adaptive traffic signals and ADA curbs.
Since early May, crews have been installing a fiber-optic cable that will be used to operate the adaptive traffic signals. These are signals that change based on real-time traffic demand at 22 intersections. The signals will also recognize buses, prioritizing green lights when a bus is at an intersection. They are expected to be fully operational by the end of the year, and seek to keep traffic moving faster along the busy street.
The remainder of the work will not require a large project area, which should keep traffic flowing smoothly through the busy summer months, County Community Development and Infrastructure spokesperson Tiffany Martinez told Lookout..
The more extensive part of this year’s work is the construction of 40 new curb ramps at various sections of the road, which entails textured ramps for pedestrians and new sidewalks to allow easier navigation. That’s a bigger undertaking than the fiber-optic cable, so this will result in small lane closures, said Martinez. Most recently, a small part of a westbound lane by Dominican Hospital was shut down to construct a new ramp.
“We expect to have intermittent single-lane closures only when the focus is on a specific location,” said Martinez. She added that she did not have specifics on where the closures would be happening day-to-day, since the work will shift around the long street throughout the process.
Despite that, Martinez recommends residents living or traveling near the project area to sign up for the Road Impact Notifications newsletter for the latest updates.
Latest news
Check out our Carmageddon road delay list here. This week, pay particular attention to:
- Drainage work, tree work, and guardrail work will cause one-lane traffic control on various sections of Highway 9 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. In these stretches, there will be one lane open with a traffic light controlling the flow of traffic in both directions. Those areas are the sections between Golf Club Drive and Exit Road, lower Glen Arbor Road and Arboleda Way, Main Street and Clear Creek/Pacific Street, Alba Road and California Drive/Middle Road, and Riverdale Park and Kings Creek Bridge.
- The Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency’s College Lake project will shut down one lane of traffic on Highway 129 between Bridge Street and Main Street in Watsonville, which will result in one-way traffic control from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday until June 30. Travelers should expect delays of up to 15 minutes.
- Through the end of 2024, various sections of Soquel Drive between State Park Drive and Paul Sweet Road could be reduced to one lane of traffic as the Soquel Drive Buffered Bike Lane and Congestion Mitigation Project moves forward. The sections of road will be intermittently closed as work continues at multiple sites. Specifically, look out for intermittent single lane closures between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.