Carmageddon: Highway 1 expansion, rail trail and the latest roadwork

The multitude of road and infrastructure projects in the works around Santa Cruz County need to go through several steps before they can break ground. That includes environmental review, applying for funding and seeking public input.

With more major road projects on the way, Santa Cruzans will have a chance to give their thoughts on that upcoming work this week.

Though the Highway 1 expansion project is well underway, the third and final phase of the project is still in the environmental review stage. In June, the California Transportation Commission staff recommended that the agency reject the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) request to fund the phase in June. The RTC plans to reapply for funding in 2025, but this week, it will hold a public input event as staff prepares for the design phase.

Phase 3, which involves the area of Highway 1 between State Park Drive and Freedom Boulevard in Aptos, includes constructing a variety of pedestrian/bicycle bridges over the highway like those planned in the project’s other phases. It also includes about two miles of the Coastal Rail Trail, the stretch between State Park Drive and Rio Del Mar Boulevard known as Segment 12. 

RTC spokesperson Shannon Munz told Lookout in November that the meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to take a fresh look at  the aesthetic features of the projects.

“There are a lot of areas in that phase for things like public art, paneling on the bridges and different types of lighting,” she said. “There will be a lot of renderings and ideas on the aesthetics so that the community can give input on what they’d like to see.”

That meeting will take place on Tuesday at the Rio Sands Hotel in Aptos from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Caltrans will have its own public meeting this week. Caltrans District 5 is working to select a design for a paving, striping and signage improvement project for Highway 1/Mission Street in Santa Cruz. In addition to refreshing the current infrastructure, Caltrans plans to install two new bus stops on the northbound and southbound sides of the road at the intersection of Highway 1 and Western Drive on the Westside. The work area would stretch from Western Drive all the way to River Street.

Caltrans District 5 spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said groundbreaking for that project is still about two years out, and the work is expected to go from winter 2026 to winter 2027. He added that this meeting is just the first opportunity for locals to take a look at the designs and give their input before the agency decides on a final design.

The meeting will take place Thursday at the Santa Cruz Police Department Community Room from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Have a road or transportation question? Ask us at news@lookoutlocal.com, subject line “Carmageddon.”

Latest news

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

The resurfacing and paving project on the Buena Vista Drive on- and off-ramps in Watsonville continues this week, and commuters should expect intermittent ramp closures from Monday through Thursday between 9:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. No two ramps will be closed at the same time.

Overnight travelers will run into a full closure of northbound Highway 1 at 41st Avenue in Capitola from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday. The closure is needed for crews to set up a working platform they can use to begin building the pedestrian bridge overcrossing at Chanticleer Avenue.

Highway 9 will also see some overnight closures this week. One lane will be closed starting one mile north of Highway 9 and Highway 1 and a half-mile north of Vernon Street. Another closure will be at the Sidehill Viaduct at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, just three-quarters of a mile south of Glengarry Road. The closures will alternate between locations, and they will not take place at the two locations at the same time.

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