Overnight closures on Highway 17 for structural reinforcement

The sun is down, and the lights are up.

Crews are back on Highway 17 to clean up and prepare for the future.

“There (could) still be slide activity for another month. It starts drying from the top but the bottom is still wet and the top starts sliding off and coming down,” said Susana Cruz with CalTrans.

The recent storms have made the ground and soil very saturated, and for the next week, crews will be working to put in micro piles around a slide near the highway to stabilize the road.

Matthew Shearer lives in San Jose and works in Scotts Valley. Even though he goes against traffic, he said for the past few weeks, his commute has been less than ideal.

“Because of the rain, the longest it’s taken me to get home was an hour. Normally its only 30 minutes,” Shearer said.

And he’s had to miss two days of work because of road closures, but his managers were understanding.

“They knew that there’s not much I can do about that. It was an act of God,” Shearer said.

Caltrans said the work is necessary before another storm hits the Central Coast.

One northbound lane between Laural Road and Glenwood Drive is shut down between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. The work is expected to be completed by March 3.

Some drivers said this latest round of repairs won’t affect their commute.

“Probably not,” Nicholas Holden said. “Because I can always go around Highway 1 (and) Bear Creek Road.” (Please note: Bear Creek Road is currently closed).

And Shearer is just hoping the good weather holds.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t get that bad again (because) I don’t know if I can take any more days off,” Shearer said.

Calrans said drivers should expect a 15 minute delay.

PREVIOUS STORY: Santa Cruz officials said the northbound right lane of Highway 17 from Laurel Road to Glenwood Drive will be closed during the overnight hours for the next week.

According to officials, the closure will be set for the hours of 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. and will begin on Friday and is expected to go through Friday, March 3.

These lane closures are necessary for the installation of micropiles which are used as structural reinforcement to the highway, officials said.

Officials said they will keep drivers updated about the upcoming roadwork through electronic messages.

Drives can expect delays of up to 15 minutes.