Delays expected for storm damage repairs along Highway 17 this weekend
UPDATE 2/22/18 6:45PM If you plan on driving southbound on Highway 17 Saturday through Monday, an alternate route may be a good idea, as delays up to 30 minutes are expected.
A pavement storm repair project along Highway 17 will require the weekend closure of a lane on southbound Highway 17 between Summit Rd. and Glenwood Dr., beginning Saturday evening at 6 pm, Feb. 24 and ending on Monday morning Feb. 26th, according to Caltrans officials.
Note: One southbound lane and both northbound lanes will remain open.
Roadwork will repair an area of failing pavement with some water percolation issues, “there’s ground water soaking up through the pavement and presenting itself on the surface. And we’re going to go in and remove 2 1/2 feet of roadway, put in what we call a mattress drain, which is a large prep rated pipe and drain rock system under the road way to capture the water that is soaking up through the roadway and then put the road on top of that” says Caltrans Resident Engineer Devin Porr. This is final storm damage repair and maintenance from last winter.
Work that is being done now is part of the lower priority projects for Caltrans, the say a lot of progress has been made since last winter, “We’ve made substantial progress and the little bit of work that is on going
right now are the last bits and pieces of repair to the roadway,” says Porr.
Electronic message boards will be activated to advise travelers about this roadwork. The CHP will be present to assist with traffic control. Motorists can expect delays of up to 30 minutes. Roadwork is expected to be completed by 6 am on Monday, Feb. 26, weather permitting.
Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones. Traffic fines are doubled in construction zones.
Commuter Jason Cichon says he drives from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz for work and says “unfortunately you know Santa Cruz specifically is very busy on the weekends with a lot of local tourism coming from the bay area, so there’s always a lot of traffic on the weekends anyway, and for people like me, I manage a bar for a living so I’m working on the weekends.”
Another driver KION spoke with says he worries the same damage will happen all over again, “my fear is that the rain that we haven’t got will come in a few days and start it all over again because our ground just isn’t able to take that kind of deluge again,” says Lyle Silldorff.
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If you plan on driving southbound on Highway 17 in the coming days, an alternate route may be a good idea, as delays up to 30 minutes are expected.
A pavement storm repair project along Highway 17 will require the weekend closure of a lane on southbound Highway 17 between Summit Rd. and Glenwood Dr. near Scotts Valley, beginning Saturday evening at 6 pm, Feb. 24 and ending on Monday Feb. 26th, according to Caltrans officials.
Note: One southbound lane and both northbound lanes will remain open.
Roadwork will repair an area of failing pavement with some water percolation issues by putting in a mattress drain system that is about 2.5′ deep and the width of the lane and about 350′ long. This is final storm damage repair and maintenance from last winter.
Electronic message boards will be activated to advise travelers about this roadwork. The CHP will be present to assist with traffic control. Motorists can expect delays of up to 30 minutes. Roadwork is expected to be completed by 6 am on Monday, Feb. 26, weather permitting.
Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway work zones.
KION’s Ashley Keehn will have more on what to expect at 5 and 6.
