Construction crews will begin road maintenance work Monday, July 5, on McLaughlin Drive between the McLaughlin Drive / Heller Drive intersection to the bridge east of Science Hill, with an expected completion date of Friday, August 6. Work will include: removing two inches of the existing roadway and replacing with two inches of new asphalt, some areas receiving additional repairs via six-inch or twenty-four-inch dig-outs, installation of concrete pavement at the two bus pullouts near the Engineering Auditorium and Physical Sciences Building, and road restriping. Project information and access restrictions to be imposed by this project during the hours of 7 am to 5 pm are highlighted below:
- Access through the work area for emergency services (police, fire, medical) will be maintained at all times.
- Temporary traffic control signs will be in place along the project corridor.
- Two-way traffic control will be in place throughout the duration of the project; however, drivers, cyclists and transit riders should expect up to five-minute delays in both directions while construction is underway.
- Cyclists are strongly encouraged to use alternate routes during construction as the road surface will be less than optimal for bike traffic.
- The two bus stops on McLaughlin Drive near the Engineering auditorium and Physical Sciences Building will be out of operation for the duration of the project; bus stops at Kresge College (on Heller Drive) and the Student Health Center (on McLaughlin Drive) will remain open and operational.
- Parking Lot 138 (adjacent to the southwest corner of the Jack Baskin Engineering Building) will be used for construction staging and will not be available for the duration of the project.
- Access to Parking Lot 139A (north of Engineering 2) will not be impacted and can be accessed via Heller Drive to Engineering Loop to Lot 139A. Additionally, some of the ParkMobile spots currently in Lot 138 will be relocated to Lot 139A.
Additionally, full road closures of this section of McLaughlin Drive will occur on Tuesday, July 6th, and Thursday, July 8th, to accommodate milling operations (July 6th) as well as dig-out and fill activities (July 8th). Further access restrictions in place during these full road closures include:
- Both lanes of traffic will be blocked. Vehicles and cyclists should avoid this section of McLaughlin Drive to the extent possible.
- Access through the work area for emergency (police, fire, medical) will be possible during these closures.
- Use the West Entrance to access west campus and use the Main Entrance to access east campus.
- METRO service will be limited to selected stops on the east campus only.
- Campus transit will service both west and east campus on shortened routes.
- Loading dock access for critical deliveries for BioMed, ISB and E&MS via Red Hill Road will be accommodated. The contractor will have traffic control personnel on-site to direct deliveries with possible minor delays. Contact the UCSC Project Manager (Marc Douvia) directly if there are issues.
Furthermore, one final road closure is planned near the end of the project to facilitate repaving activities (Monday & Tuesday, 7/26/21 and 7/27/21). However, repaving dates may change and are not yet confirmed.
Finally, pedestrian access and crossings will be open during construction. As always, drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are urged to use caution when traveling through the project corridor, especially when construction vehicles and/or workers are present.
We thank everyone in advance for their cooperation and patience as we make much-needed repairs to this section of McLaughlin Drive.
Questions about this McLaughlin Drive repair project should be directed to Marc Douvia, PPDO Project Manager, at 502–8162 (office), 419–4590 (mobile), or email mdouvia@ucsc.edu.
