Safety concerns on Hwy 1 after deadly crash

Safety concerns on Highway 1 through Santa Cruz are being brought up after the death of a 12 year old girl. CHP says Coco Lazenby was killed over the weekend in that five car pileup on the southbound lanes of Highway 1.

It happened near Soquel Avenue, where the roadways goes from three lanes and bottlenecks to two. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission says that area is the busiest in the county, and they’re trying to do something about it.

Capitola resident Ken Hietala says his car was hit in a fender bender on Highway 1 between Morrissey Boulevard and Soquel Drive last July. He said he got a concussion and severe whiplash.

According to numbers from the California Highway Patrol, he was one of dozens of reported accidents last year. CHP says between January 1 and this time last year, there were 38 reported accidents on the southbound lanes between the Fishhook and Soquel Drive. There were 19 on the northbound side. So far this year, 43 reported accidents in that same area, yet fewer on the northbound side.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s deadly crash, Hietala wants to see changes, including more law enforcement. CHP says there’s a dedicated officer to patrol Highway 1, but they are short staffed and in the process of hiring more officers.

“When you start out with something that’s going to be three lanes, keep it three lanes,” Hietala said. “It goes from two to three, four in some spots, merging back down to two, widening back out to three. They should’ve just stuck with the three plan and gone all the way into Capitola with three lanes.”

Easier said than done.

The RTC wants to do more, but projects are stalled because there’s little money coming from the state and federal governments. A local sales tax earmarked for transportation would speed up the construction process, yet there are no such plans in the works right now.

In the meantime, an Environmental Impact Report is looking at how changes would affect the Highway 1 corridor between Santa Cruz and Aptos. Specifically, adding an auxilary lane between Soquel Drive and 41st Street. Auxilary lanes are an extra lane between interchanges that wold give drivers more room to merge in and out. The project would also call for a bridge for bicyclists and pedestrians at Chanticleer. That EIR is expected to be completed in the fall.

Any plans for three lanes from Santa Cruz to Aptos would be years down the line.