Photographs of Santa Cruz

Some Distressing Photos of Gridlock

Here, the usual glut of vehicles fills the Highway 17 entrance to Ocean Street.
The jam of autos and trucks blocks the view of Beach Shuttle banners and the third full County Building parking lot.
Most Santa Cruz residents try hard to avoid the gridlock caused by beach traffic. But the gridlock is no longer limited to beach traffic from out of town. Here, Highway 9 experiences its daily "parking lot" appearance.
Traffic on Broadway is at a standstill every day.
These are not jams of beach traffic. They are the everyday commutes of local residents. Here, Seabright Avenue experiences this parking lot appearance each afternoon! In fact, it was much quicker for me to walk from Clinton Street down to Murray Street than to stay in my car. I took this photo looking back after I walked past about 40 stranded cars. Each time the light turned green, perhaps 6 made it through the intersection.
Surprisingly, the same stretch of street is nearly empty of cars just a short hour later.

What can we do about this trend? Part of the answer is to explore alternative transportation solutions. Santa Cruz City must have the support and leadership to complete the Master Transportation Study and take action based on the results. See my issues page on transportation.

Also see pictures of our piece of paradise.

Return to my Santa Cruz page.