SUMMIT - The fight is on between commuters and Santa Cruz County engineers over a dilapidated mountain road that some Mid-County drivers consider an essential link to Silicon Valley, but the county deems unsafe. Neighbors already have used heavy equipment three times to move two 8,000-pound concrete barricades the county installed to block both ends of a quarter-mile closure on Highland Way. Take a virtual drive on Highland way here.
7 responses so far ↓
jrp // Nov 30, 2007 at 12:12 am
arrrgh, Highland is(was?) closed AGAIN?
I love that road for its absolute scenic remoteness.
On my motorcycle I’ve used it as part of an alternate route from scotts valley to watsonville.
mojag // Nov 30, 2007 at 11:21 am
this is my route to los gatos/san jose for work and to get my son to school. we’re screwed!!!
now we’re looking at an hour extra per day, plus about $150 more in gas due to this road being closed. we attended the town meeting with john presleigh regarding this and nothing was resolved… boo! scenic remoteness, yes, main vein for getting to work, yes for many, morning and night. now we’re stuck on highway 1.
bs!!! we’ve been driving by this slide over a year and now it’s closed. i say we take our chances and leave it open. we see it everyday and notice when a rock has moved, or a branch has fallen. this is OUR road!!!
Laura Hebert // Nov 30, 2007 at 2:16 pm
About 20 Neighbors that are affected by this road closure attended the county meeting on the 28th of Nov. and we left with no resolution to the problem.
I have contacted a lawfirm and they have written a letter on my behalf of myself andon behalf of the residents that use Highland as the commute connector for Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.
The county has 20 days from the community meeting date (Nov. 28th) to respond to the demand letter that was written on my behalf and on the behalf of the residents that are affected by this closure.
I have spoken to and given a copy of the letter to many of the neighbors and I and they are prepared to go to the next step; and that is to hire legal representation to expediate the resolution of this problem.
As was previously stated the road has been passable for over a year and for the county to arbitrarily close the road now imposes safety issues in the event of a fire or mudslide, a huge increase in fuel costs to residents and a major inconvenience.
The residents are reasonable people they realize that living in the mountains poses challenges and that “mother nature” closes roads from time to time it’s part of the trade off for living in the serenity of the mountains.
It is the opinion of several of the residents that are affected by this closure that after having access to the road and using it on a daily basis as a connecter to the Bay Area for the past year and and half that the “County’s solution” is not acceptable and we are prepared to fight.
Lucas // Nov 30, 2007 at 7:07 pm
It seems like Ellen Pirie and John Swenson both need to have their jobs reviewed. We are paying them to keep the roads open, not to block them off. I bet we could buy a lot of prefabricated piles and heavy equipment time with the money we are paying them. I bet the locals could do the job a lot faster, better and cheaper than the county anyway.
Evan // Dec 1, 2007 at 1:26 am
I have been a long time customer at the Flea Market for years. My family, and friends have sold out there. Anyway I hear people saying that there going to miss the Flea Market, and so on…. How about thinking about somewhere else we could have one. I know it won’t be as big, and won’t be the same, but help me out by brain storming of were we could relocate. I know people have said the Santa Cruz Fair Grounds, but people are very set in their ways. So if anyone has any ideas of were to put another one, please feel free to email me at Gustafsone12584@netscape.net
Lucas // Dec 1, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Evan…
Do you walk to work or carry your lunch?
Maybe a better question… Do you work for the county?
Dan // Dec 4, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I was going to build on my property out there
that i have had for many years. but now I cant get to it!!!!!!!I live on the los gatos side.
NOW I CANT EVEN SELL IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
no agent will show a property that you cannot drive to on a paved road .there is no access from santa clara county…….I have lost 200K+ in
property depreciation. A expereienced road builder can fix this in 3 to 6 weeks…..whats the problem?????????????????????????
Leave a Comment
The Sentinel reserves the right to delete any inappropriate posts. Using your real name increases the credibility of your words.