Quick Take
Santa Cruz County hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for the Green Valley Road redevelopment project that began last summer. More Watsonville road improvements are on the way, with Freedom Boulevard slated for a swath of upgrades beginning in 2026.
The redevelopment of Green Valley Road in Watsonville is finally complete, introducing about 2 miles of new bike lanes, bus stops and public art along one of South County’s major arteries.
The project replaced a run-down dirt trail alongside the 2-mile stretch of the road with a two-way multiuse trail that allows more room for cyclists and pedestrians to travel safely on the busy stretch of road. It includes five new Santa Cruz Metro bus stops and covered shelters, where there were previously only benches. It was initially expected to cost just shy of $9 million and ended up costing about $10 million.
The project is the latest in Santa Cruz County’s ongoing efforts to improve and create alternative and active transportation infrastructure. The Highway 1 expansion project is moving forward as its first phase has wrapped, up and the new “Whale Bridge” overcrossing at Chanticleer Avenue in Live Oak is open for public use. Soquel Drive is undergoing big changes with new bike lanes, sidewalks and stoplights among other components. Meanwhile, Santa Cruz Metro is in the midst of an overhaul of its own, which is expected to be fully implemented by this fall.
Despite being popular among cyclists and pedestrians, Green Valley Road has been considered a historically unsafe road due to little room for bikes, pedestrians and cars that often travel at high speeds. At least five reported bike and pedestrian collisions were reported between 2017 and 2021 alone.
At the ribbon-cutting event at Pinto Lake County Park on Thursday morning, county executive officer Carlos Palacios said that as a former Watsonville city manager and current Watsonville resident, he felt the project is a much-needed addition to the region’s road network. District 4 County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez said he considered Green Valley one of the “sketchiest roads” in the area when he would ride his bike on it before the upgrades.
“If you recall, there’s about five or six memorials along Green Valley Road,” said Hernandez. “That’s why this project is so important to our community — to save lives of people walking by.”
District 2 County Supervisor Kim De Serpa added that the improved artery also helps safely connect families and students to schools, grocery stores and open spaces, while reducing reliance on car travel.
“What we’ve accomplished here is more than infrastructure, it’s our commitment to the community,” she said.
Along with the transportation improvements on the road, there are five concrete public art installations with various tile decorations and mosaics spread out across the project area. The artist in charge of the installations, Bruce Harman, said that he worked with an Amesti Elementary School art teacher, Lucia Herrera, who had her students paint their own tiles to be included in each of the concrete pours.
“All those young artists now have the experience of collaborative effort that will go forward with them in their lives,” he said. “Most of them will not become full-time artists, but the joy of creative effort will be with them always.”
A painter by trade, Harman told Lookout that this project was a learning experience for him, too — he had never built concrete forms before, and still had to oversee the pour of the concrete itself. He said the project has inspired him to do more of this work in the future.
“One of the problems with public art is that you have to design it so that it can withstand the elements and also vandals and stuff like that,” he said. “Concrete should last and it’s pretty easy to clean, too.”
More Watsonville road projects are underway right now and expected to begin within the next year, Watsonville Mayor Maria Orozco told Lookout. Freedom Boulevard from Green Valley Road to Airport Boulevard will get a plethora of upgrades, including new sidewalks and bike lanes as well as restriping and repaving. It is another major artery that runs through the city.
Orozco added that work outlined in the city’s pavement plan aimed at addressing various issues on roads throughout the city like striping, crosswalk visibility and limited bike lanes is already underway, and will continue for six years: “That’s going to be a huge investment for our city.”
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