Traffic ahead: Caltrans to shut part of Highway 9 next week
Quick Take
Highway 9 between Paradise Park and Glengarry Road in Felton will be closed down from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday as Caltrans does shoulder repair and pavement leveling. With delays expected, Graham Hill Road is the suggested detour.
Thinking of using Highway 9 to get into or out of Santa Cruz next week? It might be wise to make other plans.
Caltrans is shutting down an approximately three-mile stretch between Paradise Park and Glengarry Road in Felton from Monday through Thursday, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., with a hard closure involving signs, barricades and the California Highway Patrol at the Paradise Park exit road.
Highway 9 will be closed in both directions from about 1.7 miles north of the junction with Highway 1 as Caltrans performs shoulder repair and pavement leveling work, with motorists encouraged to take Graham Hill Road as a detour. The agency puts possible delays at 15 minutes.
Those living along the affected route will be able to access their residences during the closure, Kevin Drabinski of the California Department of Transportation told Lookout via email Friday.
It’s all part of a busy summer around the main artery between the city of Santa Cruz and the San Lorenzo Valley, with the most visible project the reshaping of the interchange at Highway 9 and Highway 1. That intersection is getting a makeover as Caltrans widens it to add bike lanes and turn lanes for vehicles. Most visibly, a stand of eucalyptus trees at the northeast corner was cut down over the past month as part of the project.
That work was preceded in May by Caltrans and local law enforcement clearing a homeless encampment at the 1-9 intersection, and in June by contractors removing the so-called “Hell’s Trail” encampment between Highway 1 and the Santa Cruz Memorial cemetery.