Commercial aviation has been instrumental in making the world more accessible, and a relative nosedive in air fares makes it even easier for Americans to travel long distances in a short time. The Air Transport Association estimates that during the summer months, 2.2 million Americans will travel on a commercial airplane every day. Lots of those will be vacation trips.
For most of us, though, motor vehicles are the preferred mode of vacation travel. According to AAA (the nation’s biggest auto organization, formerly known as the American Automobile Association), 90 percent of Americans still vacation by personal vehicle — travel trailer, motor home, SUV, car or motorcycle. It’s generally less stressful, more affordable and more accommodating, and it provides a great opportunity for real family communication and shared fun.
But we tend to drive more during the summer even when we stay at home. The nice weather most assuredly gets us out walking, jogging and bicycle riding more often, but there’s just no getting around our increased use of motor vehicles, too. The additional entertainment and recreation options, driving kids to special activities, weekend road trips and just getting out of the house all lead to adult Americans driving as much as 20 percent more miles in summer than in winter.
For younger drivers, the increase is even higher. A comprehensive 2003 survey by RoperASW showed teen drivers averaging a whopping 44 percent more hours per week behind the wheel in the summer (23.6 hours) than during the school year (16.4 hours).
For those of us in the San Lorenzo Valley, two road projects are conspiring to ensure that we spend more time in our cars this summer: South of Felton, CalTrans has Highway 9 closed 24/7 — probably until October. North of Boulder Creek, AT&T has one lane of Highway 9 blocked to install underground fiber-optic lines between offices here and San Jose. We’re flummoxed.
Caltrans has done a pretty good job of letting everyone know about the work to repair slide damage between Felton and Santa Cruz. There’s also plenty of advisory signage and well-marked detour routes. But an average of 10,000 vehicles travel that section of Highway 9 each day, and local businesses would no doubt like to see an expedited schedule.
With the roadway completely closed, five months seems unnecessarily long for the job. And allowing at least limited access to pedestrians, hikers and bicyclists would assuage things some, too.
The work going on north of Boulder Creek is completely different. There’s little signage, and, except for a scant press release from Caltrans, little seems to have been done to let folks know what’s up and what to expect. Information is a little hard to find, but it’s apparently part of Project Lightspeed, a big AT&T effort to increase fiber-optic services in California. This portion is the installation of underground conduit for running cables; Tidwell Excavating of Paso Robles is the contractor for work between Boulder Creek and the summit, where it will meet up with a similar deal on the Santa Clara County side.
Because there are often vacuum rigs and liquid holding tanks at the job sites, many folks think it’s a water district project. And, ironically, when a water main was broken during the work last week (June 9) it briefly became a San Lorenzo Valley Water District project. The AT&T guys stood aside, and SLVWD crews worked until after midnight to restore service to the folks who were without water for several hours.
There’s scant information about the completion of these jobs, but a three-line release from the California Department of Transportation dated Thursday, June 10, shows work on the Felton project will keep the road closed through Oct. 8; a similar release from the District 5 (Central Coast) D.O.T. office shows closure for three to five months — as early as September, as late as November.
A completion date for the AT&T project is equally unclear. The one company reference I could find said Highway 9 traffic would be controlled from 8 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. (ending at 2 p.m. Fridays) through June 30; a D.O.T. release said the “maintenance” would complete by June 25; and a Caltrans release says work is to wrap up by mid-July.
Progress seems to be slow on this one, but no one I spoke with admitted to a delay. It’s nervous-making, though, that AT&T’s encroachment permit runs through December.
The numerous steel plates in the roadway are another nervous-making aspect of this project. The surface of these plates is extremely slippery when wet, especially when they are placed on a curve, and most especially for motorcycles.
I’ve got seven words to help you get through summer: eyes open and caution on the roads. Now, drive on.
Steve Bailey of Boulder Creek has spent plenty of time in recreational activities. Contact him at
sb*****@cr****.com
.
