The Aptos bridge over Highway 1 damaged in 2017 storms will be repaired this week.
The Aptos bridge over Highway 1 damaged in 2017 storms will be repaired this week, with overnight freeway closures Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
(Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz)
Housing

Highway 1 closures continue tonight in Aptos as crews repair bridge

Crews will shut the northbound lanes overnight Tuesday and Wednesday and the southbound lanes overnight Thursday for a long-overdue fix on fencing and railings damaged during 2017 winter storms.

Night owls and early birds beware: Repair work on a damaged overcrossing will shut down Highway 1 through Aptos three nights this week, beginning Tuesday.

The long-overdue project to repair fencing and railings on the railroad bridge over the freeway between State Park Drive and Rio Del Mar Boulevard will see the northbound lanes closed overnight from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and the southbound lanes closed from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday.

Drivers will be detoured to Soquel Drive, through Aptos Village, between those exits during the closures as crews fix damage that occurred when a tree fell on the bridge in 2017.

Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission spokesperson Shannon Munz told Lookout last week that winter storms that year resulted in seven different county sites needing significant work, with the extent of the repairs requiring additional emergency funding from the federal government.

“FEMA announced that the federal disaster assistance had been made available for emergency repair to facilities damaged in those storms,” she said. “The RTC submitted a request for that assistance and it was approved, but there’s been a lot of steps since then.”

Munz added that FEMA inspected the sites between November 2017 and January 2018 to determine the scope of work. However, over the past four years, the other six sites have already been repaired.

Graniterock Construction, under permit from Caltrans, will perform the work this week.