Highway 236 in Boulder Creek will be open for the Fourth of July weekend as Caltrans engineers take a break from repairing a major slip-out on the rural highway.
One-way traffic lights will be in place from 9 p.m. Friday, July 3, until 7 a.m. Monday, July 6, to allow holiday travelers easier access to upper Highway 236, including Big Basin Redwoods State Park and Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club.
During peak times, the road handles between 2,000 and 2,500 cars each day.
Caltrans has also set up two detours. The first takes Alba Road from Highway 9 into Bonny Doon and then back down to Highway 236. The second continues north past Boulder Creek to the other entrance to Highway 236 before Castle Rock State Park.
Caltrans spokeswoman Janet Newland said the agency is trying to limit traffic on Acorn Drive, the road locals in the Forest Springs area use to reach their homes.
“We try to keep that traffic to a minimum,” Newland said.
The majority of the small roads in the Forest Springs area are private, however Acorn Drive is a public thoroughfare, and traffic on the road has increased.
Newland applauds the neighbors in the community for their patience.
“They have been pretty amazing,” Newland said. “They all realize it’s been an emergency.”
After July 6, Highway 236 will be closed again for about two weeks before reopening with a one-way traffic signal. The signal will be in place until the end of August, when the project is scheduled for completion.
