The following are issues relating to the widening and other improvements along Mission Street in western Santa Cruz. This page will focus on many aspects of the project, and will be updated with the most recent news whenever it becomes available.
This long-needed project (proposed since 1987) finally began in September 1999, 3 years behind schedule. Mission Street is the main east-west thoroughfare on the western side of Santa Cruz, and is the main retail corridor of that part of the city. In addition, Mission Street also doubles as Highway 1, putting main jurisdiction over the roadway in the hands of Caltrans. During certain parts of the day, Mission Stret can have enough traffic to necessitate 3 lanes in each direction, but currently varies between a total of 1-2 lanes in each direction. There are seven intersections along Mission Street that have traffic signals (stop lights), but only 4 of them have separate left turn lanes, and only two of them has separate turn lanes in both directions. As a result, traffic can really back up due to just one person trying to turn left, whether or not the intersection has a traffic signal. The right lane is not immune to problems either, as there are many bus routes that use Mission Street, and there are only a couple of bus stops where there is room for busses to pull out of the traffic lanes to stop. Add in traffic coming from and going to such major businesses as Long's Drugs, Safeway (the only major grocery store on the western end of town), McDonald's, a large dental clinic, at least a half-dozen gas stations, two banks...the list goes on and on...and you can see what a mess Mission Street can be.
The project as proposed by Caltrans calls for widening the 2- and 3-lane portions of Mission Street to four lanes. Pocket turn lanes will be added at all major intersections that don't already have them, and many bus turnouts will be created. The project will be constructed in stages over a 2-year period. Overall this will vastly improve Mission Street and make it a much more safer and efficient roadway.
There is some opposition to the project. Small businesses which are located along the corridor are mildly opposed to the project, having reservations about loss of business during construction, the loss and non-inclusion of trees and other plants into the project, and the fact that some sidewalk space will be elimiated and no parking will be added on the street itself. Others express concern about the exclusion of bike lanes and the decision by the city council not to put the overhead utility lines underground (due to lack of right-of-way space and maintainance issues). These groups began a petition drive to persuade the city council to vote against further work on the project. The petition group, called Mission Possible, felt that the current plans convert the street into a major highway, instead of a community commercial district. However, there is very limited space on Mission Street to work with. Some buildings on Mission Street are right up near the edge of the current roadway, and in order to please everyone, many businesses along the route would have to be torn down. Plus, at least two thirds of the traffic on Mission Street is through traffic anyways, carrying city residents to and from work and tourists into and out of the city. And as for bike lanes, other parallel corridors with much less traffic would be better for bicycle traffic than Mission Street, such as King Street or California Avenue/Street. As the project planning continued, Mission Possible soon ended its opposition to the project in order to not delay the project further.
But, as it seems like with every transportation project in Santa Cruz County, there's a snag. The project was to begin in January 1999, but continued contraversy over power lines will delay construction until September 1999. The power lines on Mission Street were to be placed underground, but in 1995 the City decided that undergrounding would be too expensive, and was abandoned with little public fanfare. However, in 1998, when the project started getting closer, more people became angrier that undergrounding was abandoned, and undergrounding was re-added to the project. However, in January 1999, PG&E reported that they would be unable to underground the power lines until later in the year, which would delay the project. A compromise was soon reached, whereby to not further delay the project, construction will start as soon as possible, while undergrounding of the utilities will not occur until after completion of the rest of the project.
Project Proposals and Plans:
Roadway Improvements
The widening portion of the project will make many needed improvements to Mission Street. First and foremost is the widening to four lanes, two in each direction. Right now, Mission Street is four lanes between Chestnut Street and King Street (eastern end), three lanes (two westbound and one eastbound) between King Street (eastern end) and Walnut Avenue, four lanes between Walnut Avenue and Bay Street and between Fair Avenue and Swift Street, and three lanes (one lane each direction with a joint central left turn lane accessable from both directions) between Bay Street and Fair Avenue. The project will convert the entire segment between Swift and Chestnut to four lanes with no central turn lanes.
The next major improvement is the left-turn lanes. Currently, many of the non-signalized intersections along Mission Street and only 4 of the 7 signalized intersections have separate left turn lanes. At all the other intersections, left turns must be made from the left through lane, which causes massive delays for upstream traffic while a left-turning vehicle waits for a break in opposing traffic. This project will add left-turn lanes in both directions at the three remaining signalized intersections--Walnut Avenue, Laurel Street, and King Street (eastern end). The City Council also wished for Caltrans to add left turn lanes at other non-signalized intersections, such as Miramar Drive, Fair Avenue, and King Street (western end), but Caltrans found that in many cases it would be impossible to add them due to right of way constraints, and where it might be possible the added delay due to design issues would seriously delay the project. As a result, those plans are on hold, at least for now.
The last major roadway improvement to Mission Street is the creation of bus pullouts at all of the major bus stops along Mission Street. Nearly all of the county bus lines that travel through the western part of Santa Cruz travel along Mission Street for at least part of their route. As there are currently no bus pullouts [except for the the one built a couple of years ago near the new Longs Drugs store, and the wide right lane at King Street (western end)], a stopped bus blocks the right lane on Mission Street while passengers get on and off the bus. This can cause major backups during heavy vehicle and bus service periods. The bus pullouts will eliminate this problem and improve both traffic flow and bus route punctuality.
As mentioned in the History section, the undergrounding of the electrical and phone lines has been rather contriversial. Because of the tardiness in adding the undergrounding to the project, combined with PG&E's work schedule, the compromise chosen for the project is to perform the undergrounding after the rest of the project is complete. During the construction process, PG&E will temporarily move the lines out of the limits of construction, and then re-dig up the roadway after construction to install the lines.
The City Council, in collaboration with the Mission Street Widening Task Force, has decided to take this construction opportunity to beautify Mission Street with new trees and corridor themes. Four "zones" have been set up along Mission Street, each with their own tree species and lightpole theme which respects and emphasizes each zone's unique building and neighborhood character. These trees are also a response to the many trees lining Mission Street which will have to be cut down in order to widen the road and add sidewalks. Many residents, including the Council, are doing all they can to try and save the trees even though Caltrans says that there's nothing that can be done without either moving the sidewalk so in encroaches upon residents' privacy or damages the trees' root systems so severely that they will be in danger of falling onto either the roadway or nearby buildings.
Project Updates and Current Status (Updated monthly and as events warrant)
Comments? Questions? Corrections?
E-mail Jeff Waller (mapman@got.net)