Question for Dopers in Santa Cruz area: What is the current status of State Route 9 ?
Last I recall being in that area was some years ago, and the road was closed somewhere between Felton and Santa Cruz. It seemed to be closed for quite a long time (multiple years), IIRC.
Today I found a CalTrans document on-line saying that there were washouts in 2017 that closed the road, and giving a time-line estimating that the road will be re-built and open again by 2025. Is the road closed now?
Separately, I found another CalTrans doc indicating that they plan to re-build the Saratoga Creek Bridge (on the Saratoga side of SR 35). It doesn’t give a time-line, but indicates that some early planning began in 2016 and the EIR was done in January 2020. Anybody know of any current road closures or construction in that area?
No closures at the moment according to the Caltrans website. I drove from Felton to Saratoga 3 weeks ago and there were a couple of short one-lane/flagman stretches for construction and tree work but other than that it was wide open.
Thanks for the pirep, @blondbear. I’m still unsure of the segment from Felton to Santa Cruz – I saw that Caltrans page saying no closures, but at the same time, I see that page (that I linked above) that seemed to imply the road is closed due to washouts in 2017, and won’t be open again until 2025? Now I Я confused.
I believe that they are using the 1 lane/flagged construction zones, as noted above. I would take that to mean the highway won’t be fully repaired until 2025.
Road condition update: After a hike at Fall Creek in Felton today I drove down 9 to Santa Cruz. Both lanes were open all the way, However, there was quite a bit of road work going on between the entrance to Henry Cowell and the intersection with Hwy 1–road shoulder and culvert repair, tree trimming, etc. Going forward I imagine that repair work might close one or both lanes at times. If 9 is closed you could always use Graham Hill Road as an alternate route.
Thanks for the update, @blondebear . I’m beginning to get a bug up my ass to do a road trip somewhere in that quadrant of the galaxy sometime in the near future, so that’s why I’m interested in it.