Capitola bridge demolition: Officials remind public of planned 24-hour Highway 1 closure

CAPITOLA — A section of Santa Cruz County’s busiest transportation corridor is slated to soon close for 24 hours and local officials are continuing to put the word out about expected impacts and detour plans.

Caltrans will close Highway 1 in both directions beginning at 7 p.m. March 23 and extending to 7 p.m. March 24 from the Park Avenue to Bay/Porter exits, according to a release from the agency. The closure will make space for a planned demolition of the Capitola Avenue highway overcrossing so that it can be rebuilt with improved bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

At a brief press conference Wednesday hosted in front of Capitola City Hall, Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said the duration of such a highway closure was “unusual,” and that it was important to make sure the community was aware of the significant travel delays it will cause.

“This is such a destination for people to come, we just want to make sure to get that word out,” said Drabinski, adding that “the window we’ve selected for the 24-hour closure is understood to be the lowest traffic volume that we could get.”

Highway travelers moving northbound during the closure will be directed off at the Park Avenue exit. They will continue north on Soquel Drive and return to the highway at the Bay/Porter onramp, according to a Caltrans release.

Similarly, the southbound highway detour involves taking the Bay/Porter exit, moving south on Soquel Drive before returning to the highway via the Park Avenue onramp. Plenty of public safety officials will also be stationed along the transportation corridors to help direct traffic, planners said.

For regional travelers in the Bay Area, Central Valley, Salinas River Valley and broader Highway 1 coast, Caltrans has advised that Highway 101 remains a viable alternative route during the closure.

Drabinski said the demolition is weather dependent, half-joking that “we need you all to pull for sunny weather.”

According to Drabinski, the bridge was originally constructed in 1948, a year before the city of Capitola itself was incorporated.

“It’s time to make way for something new and bigger and better,” said Kristen Brown, pulling double duty as Capitola mayor and chair of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, which is the local lead for the project. “I think the community is going to be really excited to see it, especially with the public art aspect of it and how it’s going to enhance traffic operations and then also bicycle and pedestrian uses as well.”

In preparation for the demolition, the Capitola Avenue bridge closed Monday and will remain that way for at least 14 months, according to project planners.

The work is all part of a larger, three-phased multimodal project stretching from Soquel Drive to Freedom Boulevard. Project features include a combination of bus-on-shoulder and auxiliary lane development in both directions along the roughly 7.5-mile stretch of highway, multiple bicycle and pedestrian overcrossings, improvements to Soquel Drive and development of the Coastal Rail Trail along the Branch Rail Line corridor.

The Capitola Avenue bridge demolition is part of the second phase, just now ramping up construction efforts which also include a bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing at Mar Vista Drive. Construction is estimated to be completed in 2026. The estimated total cost for phase 2 is $94.2 million, according to a project fact sheet from the commission.

The first phase, from Soquel Drive to 41st Avenue, launched last April and is expected to be finished in 2025 while the third project, from State Park Drive to Freedom Boulevard, will begin construction in 2026.

“We have this vision of getting people out of their cars and having more multimodal travel that’s more sustainable for the future,” said the commission’s Senior Transportation Engineer Sarah Christensen. “Definitely the transit improvements and the bicycle and pedestrian improvements as well — this project has it all.”

24-hour Highway 1 closure

When: 7 p.m. March 23 to 7 p.m. March 24.

Where: From the Bay/Porter exit to Park Avenue.

Why: Allow crews to demolish the Capitola Avenue bridge.