SANTA CRUZ — The high-use Murray Street bridge stretching across the Santa Cruz Harbor will be impacted by partial and full lane closures starting early next week and lasting for nearly three years, the city of Santa Cruz announced Wednesday.
The westbound lane of the bridge will close to vehicle and bicycle traffic starting Monday to allow crews to begin work on the $50 million Murray Street Bridge Seismic Retrofit and Barrier Replacement Project. While the westbound lane will remain closed until the project is completed in January 2028, the eastbound lane will remain open along with two-way pedestrian access.
According to the release, detours will be established for vehicles through Soquel Avenue via Seabright and 7th avenues while bicycles will be sent across Arana Gulch/Broadway also via Seabright and 7th Avenues. The city is also coordinating with county transportation officials to try to mitigate traffic impacts, transportation officials wrote.
Construction hours for the project have been set for 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays with occasional weekend work as needed. Construction activities include pile driving, excavation and heavy equipment operation. The project’s contractors are planning to implement dust control measures, such as water spraying and covered stockpiles, to reduce airborne particles, according to the release.
While the project will begin with only a single lane closure, transportation officials have noted that full closures are on the horizon. To allow for demolition and proper public safety, the city is tentatively planning to completely shutter the bridge for about four and a half months in mid or late 2025 with vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian detours again made available.
A second full closure is expected in early to mid 2026, according to the release, and is planned to last three months.
City officials noted that these closure dates and durations are all tentative and are subject to change as the city continues to negotiate a project timeline with the contractor.
The bridge spans Wood’s Lagoon and connects Murray Street with Live Oak, allowing for a seamless coastal transportation route in Mid County that has become a chokepoint during peak rush hour periods as commuters try to beat the congestion on Highway 1. The project, which has been delayed for years, is the last of four state-mandated bridge reconstruction efforts within city limits that were designed to retrofit the bridges for greater seismic resilience in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The other three projects were completed around 2003.
New bridge features will include traffic barriers, new piles and columns, a widened bridge deck along with a two-way pedestrian and bicycle deck on the ocean side of the bridge with 6-foot-wide bicycle lanes and a 7-foot, 5-inch sidewalk. The current elevated curbs running alongside the bridge’s bicycle lanes will be replaced with standard 6-inch-high curbs and the solid concrete vehicle barrier will be replaced with see-through barrier rails that allow for expansive harbor and ocean views.
The project’s website is online at cityofsantacruz.com.
