Highway Widening: Phase 1?

or "I thought we stopped the Highway widening, so what the heck is going on near the Fishhook?"

It's a good question, and gets to the heart of how our democracy is being eroded. Yes, 57% of us voted against raising the sales tax to widen Highway 1 and, yes, our county government continues to make highway widening their number one priority. We also did stop—at least for now—two major freeway widening projects. Peter Scott, one of the finest activists ever to wet his beard in the San Lorenzo, explains the details below. In the meantime, when you see (and hear) the awful destruction caused by the current project, please DO get angry and please DO keep in mind that we have the potential to stop this madness if we work together and with determination.

The Highway 1 widening project now underway in the vicinity of the Fishhook—euphemistically termed "Merge Lanes"—is one of three Highway 1 widening projects now on the project list of our County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC).

The other two are the large (Santa Cruz to Rio Del Mar) Highway 1 widening project (whose funding through the Measure J sales tax increase was soundly defeated at the polls in November, 2004), and the "Auxiliary Lanes", which would extend Highway 1 widening south from La Fonda to Soquel Avenue. The funding for the latter project was denied (for one year anyway) by the California State Transportation Commission (CTC) earlier this year after lobbying by People Power that culminated in a trip to the hearings in Sacramento.

The Merge Lanes

The "Merge Lanes" project grew out of a much larger project that first appeared in our State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) in 1988, that envisioned a complete reconstruction of the Fishhook involving a monstrous 3-level flyover. Fortunately, owing primarily to the opposition by the Fishhook Neighbors led by Eloise Graham, this project was abandoned, and new studies were begun in 1997. These studies led to the approval of the current project's EIR in 2002. Funding was released by the CTC last February.

Many, especially those next to the freeway, are shocked by this project, thinking it had been voted down over a year ago. Unlike the Mission Street widening project, there was almost no opportunity for public input regarding the design of the Merge Lanes. Essentially, CalTrans and the RTC are piece-mealing the widening of Highway 1, and this is the first phase.

Several facts worth noting about the "Merge Lanes" project:

  1. Construction of the project will take at least three years. It is now projected to be completed in March, 2009.
  2. The cost of the project, shown on various documents as ranging from $48 million to $52.5 million, could increase significantly. The RTC is in the process of requesting a funding update report from CalTrans.
  3. Sound walls adjacent to the added lanes of the nearly twomile project will be installed on both sides of the new road segment, extending for the full length of the project.
  4. No revisions to the Fishhook itself will be undertaken, raising the question of how the project will "address local safety and operational deficiencies."
  5. A proposed bicycle path along Branciforte Creek under the widened freeway is not currently included in the project, although a request to CalTrans is expected to be acted upon soon by the Santa Cruz City Council.
  6. As noted recently in the Sentinel, the Market Street underpass, originally expected to open in August 2006, will be closed until March 2007. CalTrans provides weekly updates on the project at www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/projects/scr_1_17. (At the time of this writing it says: "Daytime pile driving will also begin the week of July 24…Loud noise and vibrations can be expected during daytime hours.")