Hwy 1 – Soquel/Morrissey Project Update

The following activities are scheduled for the Highway 1 Soquel/Morrissey Auxiliary Lanes Project:

La Fonda and Highway Access

• La Fonda Bridge demolition schedule (assuming no unforeseen events):
• Southbound side: Monday, August 6^th and Tuesday, August 7^th , the highway will be closed from 12:00 am midnight to 5:00 am for both nights in this direction
• Northbound side: Monday, August 13^th and Tuesday August 14th, the highway will be closed from 11:00 pm to 4:00 am for both nights in this direction
• The La Fonda Bridge will be closed to cross traffic for 6-8 months beginning on August 6^th.
• While the highway is closed to remove the bridge for the dates noted above, at least one lane on the highway in the opposite direction will remain open.
• During the night closure of the highway sections (as noted above), traffic will be detoured at Morrissey and Soquel, respectively.
• Alternate routes are limited. Please reduce auto travel as much as possible and allow additional travel time.
• The middle pier of the La Fonda Bridge will remain in place until early October when the retaining walls and new bridge abutments are completed on each side of the highway and travel lanes can be moved over to allow work to occur in the center median area.

School Routes and Special Programs

• DeLaveaga Elementary and Harbor High School families are encouraged to go to the following links on the RTC’s Commute Solutions website for information on travel options.
• DeLaveaga: www.commutesolutions.org/delaveaga
• Harbor: www.commutesolutions.org/harbor
• Students currently walking or biking across the La Fonda Avenue Overcrossing to attend DeLaveaga Elementary or Harbor High school should contact the RTC to inquire about eligibility to use a student shuttle that will begin operating the first day of school, August 29^th.  A planning meeting will be held the week before school.
• Improvements to the path between Park Avenue and La Fonda (along the edge of the Adult School) have begun.  The path will be widened and repaved using a type of concrete additive from a by-product manufactured by capturing greenhouse gas-producing Carbon Dioxide from a local power plant, thereby reducing pollution.
• In addition, construction is starting on sidewalk sections along Rooney Street between Pacheco Ave and Elk St, and Morrissey Blvd between Pacheco and San Juan Ave, using the same type of pollution-reducing concrete additive noted above.

Slow for the Cone Zone

Speeds on the highway through the project area are now reduced to 55 MPH, with traffic fines doubled in the construction zone. Please drive safely, exercise caution in construction zones, and allow extra travel time. Adjacent residents should expect noise and dust associated with the construction activity.

Know Before You Go

For Caltrans’ live camera view from Morrissey Boulevard looking northbound, click on the ‘Highway 1 East of Morrissey’ link on the RTC’s Commute Solutions Traffic Conditions webpage: http://commutesolutions.org/get-around/drive/traffic/

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is managing construction for the one-mile Highway 1 Soquel/Morrissey Auxiliary Lanes project.  For more information about the project, please visit the project webpage: http://sccrtc.org/projects/streets-highways/highway-1-aux-lanes/

Project Manager: Kim Shultz (RTC), Resident Construction Engineer: Bruce Shewchuk (Parsons Brinckerhoff)