Carmageddon: Watsonville plans millions in road upgrades, expanding bike lanes and sidewalks

The City of Watsonville has a few road improvement projects on the docket for the last several months of 2025, with plans to overhaul a section of Freedom Boulevard next year.

Murray Fontes, assistant director of public works for the City of Watsonville, said that there are two projects slated to begin by late September or early October. One focuses on a stretch of Bridge Street between Blackburn Street and Beck Street. Fontes said Bridge Street is in “very poor shape,” and will be repaved, restriped, and have its sidewalks replaced.

Another focuses on several roads in Watsonville. Those include Harkins Slough Road, Loma Prieta Avenue, Green Valley Road, Freedom Boulevard, Kilburn Street and Ford Street. Those will see more of a routine pavement repair. Fontes said that the city has not yet discussed scheduling with the project’s contractors, so road closures are still to be determined.

A number of South County’s roads have been under repair or redevelopment recently. A county-led project on Green Valley Road that wrapped up in late August replaced a dirt trail along the 2-mile stretch of road with a two-way multiuse trail for safer travel for cyclists and pedestrians, along with new Santa Cruz Metro bus stops and covered shelters.

Fontes said that the upcoming work on Freedom Boulevard, currently slated to kick off next summer or fall, will stretch only about a half-mile between Green Valley Road and Airport Boulevard. 

The work on Freedom Boulevard isn’t quite at the level of Green Valley Road’s overhaul, but some of the work is similar like the addition of bike lanes and sidewalks. Although the project area is fairly small, the amount of work is substantial. Fontes said that crews will reconstruct the roadway, removing and replacing some of the aging pavement.

Like on Green Valley Road, crews will also be filling in gaps where the current sidewalk does not fully connect, restriping the road to create bike lanes with a 2-foot buffer between cyclists and cars, as well as installing a new crosswalk and a pedestrian island where Freedom Boulevard meets Roache Road.

Fontes said that the city has incrementally worked on sections of Freedom Boulevard from Main Street to Green Valley Road over the past 20 years. Since the full scope of the roadwork required “millions of dollars,” it was split into segments.

Fontes said the city ran into some challenges in its plans to install sidewalks, as the additions would cut into people’s private property. However, one of the residents contacted the city and asked about installing a sidewalk near their house. The city said it could be done, but only if all the residents in the area agreed to allow the city to put a sidewalk along the front portion of their properties.

“This one neighbor spoke with the remaining neighbors, and there was a consensus that all of them would like to see these improvements,” said Fontes. “Once we had that in hand, we started looking for funding to pay for it.”

Fontes said that, including design and permitting, the entire project is estimated to cost about $4.7 million. The city secured a $1 million grant through the California Air Resources Board and additional funds through Senate Bill 1, also known as the “gas tax,” and 2016 Measure D funding.

The timeline is still not entirely clear, but Fontes said that ideally the city would finish the project design in early 2026, break ground by the summer or fall, and finish by the end of the year.

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

• Drainage clearing will shut down one lane of southbound Highway 17 between Glenwood Cutoff and West Vine Hill Road from Monday through Wednesday between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

• Utility work will cause an overnight closure of one lane of northbound Highway 17 between Laurel Road and Spanish Bit Chapel from Tuesday through Thursday between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

• Roadway improvements will shut down one lane of Highway 9 between Willow Brook Drive and the northern junction of Highway 236 starting on Monday and lasting through May 20, 2026. Work hours will be from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. 

• Pavement, guardrail and erosion control work will shut down about 1 mile of Upper East Zayante Road on weekdays through early November between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The road will open up between noon and 12:30 p.m. each day to let traffic pass.

• 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 7:30 p.m. to 5 a.m.

• A full closure of the Murray Street Bridge will 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 and tree work close down sections of Highway 9 between Pleasant Way/Madrona Road and Pool Drive, Camp Sycamore Road and the Paradise Park exit, Park Drive/Shadowbrook Lane and Hillside Avenue/Miles Street, and Bear Creek Road and the 1.5 mile mark south of Highway 35 from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

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

• Roadwork on northbound and southbound Main Street between 5th Street and East Lake Avenue in Watsonville will cause intermittent closures of one lane in each direction. Sidewalks within the work zone will be closed, and pedestrians and cyclists can use the crosswalks outside the construction area.

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