Highway 9 near Felton to close

Highway 9 between Felton and Santa Cruz will be completely closed from the beginning of June until early October while Caltrans crews rebuild a section of the narrow mountain roadway.
The project will repair damage to the northbound shoulder and part of a traffic lane that occurred during the winter of 2006. A retaining wall with a concrete barrier will be constructed and a bicycle and pedestrian safety rail will be installed, too.
The closure – at mile marker 1.8 from Highway 1 in Santa Cruz – will completely block the roadway. Caltrans said there will be no through traffic during the summer months because the heavy equipment needed for the project will block both lanes of the narrow road, leaving no room for cars, cyclists or people on foot.
“(The closure) will certainly affect folks in south Felton,” Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone said. As of Monday, Stone had not heard from any constituents about the impending closure.
“We recognize that a project such as this causes short-term inconvenience, however, the highway closure is absolutely necessary to restore the long-term stability of the road,” wrote Caltrans spokesman Colin Jones in a letter to local businesses and public agencies that use Highway 9 in that area.
Caltrans is setting up several detours to get to Santa Cruz. Vehicles should use Mount Hermon Road to Highway 17 to get to Santa Cruz and cyclists will be directed to use Graham Hill Road.
An average of 10,000 vehicles each day travel on Highway 9 near the location of the closure according to Caltans data. As a comparison, in downtown Felton at the corner of Graham Hill Road and Highway 9, about 33,300 trips are made on average each day.
Caltrans has experience with this type of closure in the valley as the organization closed Highway 236 north of Boulder Creek for three weeks last summer. Spokeswoman Susana Cruz said she is available to answer questions about the project by calling 805-549-3138.
Read the full story in the May 21 edition of the Press-Banner.