A project now underway to replace a deteriorating culvert under Highway 17 at a location 1.5 miles north of Scotts Valley will result in overnight lane closures. As of June 23, travelers on Highway 17 near Vine Hill Road will encounter the intermittent closure of one lane of travel in each direction from 8pm-5am.
These overnight lane closures are scheduled to continue through early July. In upcoming weeks, overnight closures are programmed on a Sunday through Thursday schedule from 8pm-5am with no overnight lane closures on Friday or Saturday nights.
In addition to intermittent overnight lane closures on Highway 17, access to Vine Hill Road from Highway 17 will be limited during overnight construction hours. During overnight work hours, travelers on southbound Highway 17 will not be able to turn left onto Vine Hill Road. Southbound travelers will instead continue south on Highway 17 to the Granite Creek Road offramp and then head north to Branciforte Drive.
This work will also affect local traffic. During overnight work hours, travelers intending to enter southbound Highway 17 from Vine Hill Road will detour by taking northbound Highway 17 to the Sugarloaf Road exit and return to southbound Highway 17 via the Sugarloaf Road onramp.
The project work area will be located on Highway 17 between the concrete median barriers at Vine Hill Road, and lane closures will be in effect one half mile north and south of Vine Hill Road.
During all construction hours, emergency vehicles will be able to travel through the project area. CHP will be on site to assist with traffic control, and message and directional signs will be in place to alert travelers.
This project will remove a deteriorating corrugated steel pipe culvert and replace it with a 24-inch culvert, which will avoid degradation of the roadway subsurface and reduce the potential for the creation of a sinkhole.
