Street Smarts: Applause for the highway project, bumpy roads across the county

The $50 million Highways 1 and 17 Merge Lanes Project is in the home stretch, which means navigating the county's busiest stretch of highway should soon become a whole lot smoother.

[Stephen Arnold]

"Highways 1 and 17 Merge Lanes Project is in the home stretch, which means navigating the county's busiest stretch of highway should soon become a whole lot smoother."

It already IS a lot smoother. What a difference!

Now just elect the right people to keep up this good work. Start with Betty Danner.

[Stephen Arnold]

C'mon Mel, there are plenty of laws already to address pets hindering motorists' abilities to safely operate their vehicles. Do we really need another friggin' law?

[you gots to get down]

The county let the roads go for years probably because they spent the money elsewhere & now they would like to tax us even more! With busted budgets on all levels of our great responsible "government" don`texpect a difference any time soon!

[Carl Bendix]

We have the money to repair our road system. The problem is that it has been "DIVERTED" to other projects. What money that has been available has not been well spent. Stop giving our tax dollars to those that don't earn them! Use them for what they were intended.

[Crumbling Nation]

Am I the only one that sees the "highway widening project" as a complete waste of money? What has it accomplished? Merging onto 17 from Hwy 1 northbound is STILL one lane around a sharp turn that forces cars to slow to 40 MPH. How is that any different than what we had? Merging onto Hwy 1 south from 17 the two lanes over the bridge merge back into one lane before merging with Hwy 1. How is that any different than what we had? Southbound on Hwy 1 from the Fishhook we have an extra lane now, until just before the Soquel exit at which point all cars from three lanes will have to merge back into two lanes. Other than moving the congestion point down the road a little bit how is this any different than what we had? I for one am EXTREMELY disappointed in what I perceive as a shortsighted design and a huge waste of taxpayer dollars for virtually NO return on investment. I'd be very interested in hearing how all these changes have improved anyone's commute from the eastern unincorporated side or further south.

[Widening]

I was all for the widening of hwy 1. I still am. But I don't know what they were thinking with what they did concerning going south on 1.
I'm stuck in the same traffic I always have been. It's just moved up to the Soquel ave exit now instead of starting at the fishhook.

Going north on 1, actually seems to work well. The morning traffic gets going nicely.

[Mary in Capitola]

Crumbling Nation and Widening - I couldn't agree more! 4 out of 5 days last week at 4pm it was backed up! Didn't do any good. Although the highway is nice to drive on.

[Carl Bendix]

I don't see the one lane merge as much of a problem. The parking lot backup comes from the sheer volume of traffic during the commute hours (which seem to have been extended). Yes, the widening has just made the parking lot longer much in the same way that widening the fishhook did, but we have to start somewhere. Eventually the rest of the highway from the Soquel exit to San Andreas Rd will also be widened. The 41st Ave Bay Ave. mess needs redesign as well. Metering lights perhaps. Doing nothing(no widening)just prolongs the parking lot situation adding to fuel waste and increased pollution. And no, bicycles will not solve the problem nor will the poorly designed public transportation system. As long as they keep building, the road system has to be expanded. Otherwise the trip from Scotts Valley to Aptos will be increasingly arduous, continuing to consume air quality, fuel and time at an increasing rate.

[Caelum Sinclair]

"Q: When will they pass a law banning dogs in the drivers' lap, obstructing the view out the front windshield while Fluffy perches on the dashboard and interferes with the drivers' ability to react while operating the vehicle? Once again, it seems ridiculous that we'll have to pass a law to enforce the obvious. I own two dogs who calmly sit in the back seat while I drive. It's possible to drive with dogs safely.

Mel Dion

Santa Cruz

A: What would I tell my four-legged friend, Lady? Actually, Lady is relegated to sitting in the back, but I wouldn't say she does this calmly."

I hope Shanna didn't strain herself researching that answer. Here is a more relevant answer regarding the recent veto of lap dog legislation:

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1271530.html

Does anyone else think $1 million per mile for paving sounds awfully high?

[crazy]

The widening project is worthless unless the highway is widened all the way to Buena Vista exit. The government screws everything up.

[PLEASE]

The widening project is a failure.. Unless you get off on Morrissey it's still a mess. Like everyone else said, it just moves the gridlock up to Soquel Ave exit. Truly a waste of money. Now I sit in traffic another few hundred yards up the road

[Armand V]

The fixed Highway 2 and 17 is great but believing it will lessen traffic is wishful thinking. Yes, there are four lanes at the beginning going south but it still wind into two. It's literraly like a funnel, why did they think that was a solution? And then having two entrance for Morrissey where the gridlock starts. They should have put stop lights on the entrances. That will certainly solve some of it.

[nfty9er]

Previous posters are right, it is just going to move south going south. Saturday I got on 1 so. at Morrisey and immediately was bumper to bumper. I at first thought it was thousands of people heading to Aptos for the fireworks show and entertainment and thus the backup. A few minutes later past Soquel it cleared up and smooth sailing. Wow I said, if this happened on a lazy Sat. afternoon what is going to happen during commute time. Maybe the striping will help so people will merge sooner. I have no answers.

[more lanes]

lets have more lanes everywhere .. bring out the heavy eq.

[Buy High Sell Low]

There's a simple way to get the 1 widened to Buena Vista - get Barry Swenson to do it - the town council will rubberstamp anything for him.

That said, if that's what it takes, then go for it!

Otherwise, it's the usual coalition of patchouli drummers, tree huggers, PETA freaks, and NIMBY MIWNLFs categorically opposing everything.

[eggfart]

Maybe they (we) should have Driscoll's and Dole pay for the road repair on San Andreas. It is their trucks/tractors that fudged it up. Oh yeah, but the poor farmers never turn a profit and could not possibly contribute anything back to the county that allows them to do what they do (methyl bromide, salt water intrusion, anchor babies...).

[counterstrike]

Pretty amusing to me how the roads get worse and more dangerous and people are finally complaining enough to be heard. Putting that one-color cheap cover over uneven formerly visible uneven dips, patches, or potholes is just plain unsafe. That crappy hiding of what you could drive around before is bringing out a little ire! Funny until *thud* "there goes my alignment."

Widen ALL roads! Do it right! Do it in town where we live! Repaint separate lanes all over town!

Ridiculous!

[rider]

If its such an epic failure, why hasn't S/B 1 at 17 been a parking lot all of last week?

I'm just sayin....

[get real]

they (caltrans) did a great job...the project was a merge for 1 and 17 not a widening deal...that deal got shot down with metering lights by the city council, NIMBYs, and bike advocates...time for change, elect new leaders and maybe we can see widening, metering, improoved public transit, carpool lanes, tunnel thru summit, lightrail, whatever...just improovements and thinking for the majority not the few might actually happen sooner than later.

[counterstrike]

Almost as ridiculous as moving the 1/17 bottleneck 5 miles closer to Watsonville - but for that; we can blame CalTrans.