San Lorenzo River Bridge and Kings Creek Bridge Replacement (05-1H470)

San Lorenzo River Bridge and Kings Creek Bridge Replacement (05-1H470)

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) proposes to replace the San Lorenzo River Bridge (Bridge Number 36-0052) at post mile 13.6 and Kings Creek Bridge (Bridge Number 36-0054) at post mile 15.5 on State Route 9 in Santa Cruz County, north of the unincorporated community of Boulder Creek. Each bridge would be replaced with larger structures to accommodate 12-foot-wide travel lanes and 8-foot-wide shoulders in both directions. At the San Lorenzo River, the new bridge would be 106 feet long and 40 feet wide and would replace the existing bridge at this location, which is the same length but only 31 feet wide. At Kings Creek, the new bridge would be 99 feet long and 40 feet wide and would replace the existing bridge at this location, which is 88 feet long and 28 feet wide. The existing metal beam guardrail at both bridges would be replaced with standard Midwest Guardrail Systems, which would be connected to each side of the bridges. A taper would be paved on the sides of each bridge to transition the new 8-foot-wide shoulders to the existing roadway shoulders. Work in the streambeds is proposed and would require the use of a temporary diversion system to dewater work areas for demolition and removal of existing bridge abutments and piers. Existing bridge piers and their foundations would be removed from Kings Creek. This would result in an increase of about 22 square feet of riparian area, critical habitat for the Central California Coast Coho Salmon and Central California Coast Steelhead, and essential fish habitat for Central California Coast Coho Salmon. It is expected that all work would occur within the existing state right-of-way; no new right-of-way would be necessary. The owner would relocate existing utilities that would conflict with construction operations before and during construction. The proposed bridges would be built along the existing State Route 9 alignment. State Route 9 is a rural and mountainous highway that stretches 35 miles from State Route 1 in the city of Santa Cruz along the Pacific Coast to State Route 17 in the town of Los Gatos at the southern edge of the greater San Francisco Bay Area. State Route 9 passes through the San Lorenzo Valley and the Saratoga Gap in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The proposed project area is a section of the travel corridor that is in a rural setting surrounded by residential land uses.

Santa Cruz

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), California Department of Transportation, District 5 (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region 3 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Conservation (DOC)

California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Conservation (DOC)

Transportation:Highway/Freeway (Bridge Replacements)

Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Noise, Solid Waste, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Vegetation, Wetland/Riparian, Wildfire, Wildlife