Soquel Drive Buffered Lane and Congestion Mitigation Project

Project Overview:  

Soquel Avenue/Drive and Freedom Boulevard is a popular alternative route to Highway 1 for cars, bikes, and other vehicles. It is so popular that the County of Santa Cruz Department of Public Works has proposed improvements in the most heavily traveled section of the route between the town of Aptos and the Santa Cruz City limits between La Fonda Drive and State Park Drive. The project includes improvements to local roads, transit buses and active transportation including new bike lanes, traffic control systems and crosswalk upgrades. 

  

The improvements provide direct access to Dominican Hospital, Sutter Health Center, Cabrillo College, Harbor High School, Soquel High School, Green Acres Elementary School, Main Street Elementary School, Santa Cruz Montessori School, Mar Vista Elementary School, and the town of Soquel.  

  

This section of the route also provides direct access to both Chanticleer Avenue and Mar Vista Drive, which are proposed to have new bike and walkway crossings over Highway 1. 

Project Map:

Improvements Included:

• Adaptive traffic control system (ATCS) which will control traffic signal changes making transit more efficient at all 23 intersections between La Fonda Avenue and State Park Drive. 
• Protected bike lanes with striping for approximately 2.4 miles (4.8 miles in total) and buffered bike lanes with striping for approximately 2.65 (5.3 miles in total) separating bikes from cars, trucks, and other vehicles. 
• 46 green bike boxes at 23 intersections for left turn movements creating a motion signal for waiting bikes. 
• Pedestrian improvements including:
• 10 rectangular rapid flashing beacons at mid-block crossings alerting drivers of bicycles and pedestrians.
• 0.46 miles of new curb, gutter, retaining wall and sidewalk construction
• 96 crosswalk upgrades, 12 sidewalk curb extensions
• 100 ADA accessible ramps
• Reconstruction of 17 driveway and side street connections
• Overlay of pavement for entire 5.6-miles project length

Project Funding: 
Construction funding has been secured for this project, which is part of the RTC's Watsonville to Santa Cruz Multimodal Corridor Program (WSCMCP). The delivery of the project will be led by the County of Santa Cruz Department of Public Works with the RTC as a key stakeholder.

Contact Us:
Tim Nguyễn
Assistant in Civil Engineering
County of Santa Cruz
(831) 454-2371
Tim.Nguyen@santacruzcounty.us