what's so bad about highway 17? (Union City, Santa Cruz: safe, license, trailer)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally, Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains did not meet State Standard for grades and curves...

Most Highways have gently sloping curves... this was not the case with Highway 17... Cal Trans has been working on improvements and it is much better now.

[nooneknowsmyname]

I currently live in the SF Bay Area and travel to Santa Cruz about twice a year. Making the trip a few times a year isn't bad, even once a month might be OK, but I wouldn't want to have to make the trip over and back on a daily basis.

[Palindromed]

Highway 17 (now 880) is a commuters nightmare. Having had job offers in Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz, I turned them down because of the commute. People drive fast, the turns are ugly and really dangerous if one person does something stupid that the rest that are in the back will certaintly get pretty well messed up. Accidents are usually very serious.

Unfortunately for most South Bay residents, its the only way to get to the beach!

[jabsosteel]

Born and raised in Los Gatos and the mountains next to 17 and I can personally vouch for the inherent danger. A study was done about some 15 years ago and found that 17 is banked totally incorrectly in something like 15 places (take notice next time you drive it and you'll feel it). Friends that I know have either died or been in terrible wrecks on 17 without the element of bad weather. The house that I was born in (Redwood Estates)used to overlook 17 and my parents still talk about decapitations and fatalities that they witnessed right below our home. The problem is that people take it WAY too fast and there isn't much time to slow down due to the turns in the road. Add a little booze or someone falling asleep at the wheel and it's disastrous. While some of the problems have been fixed there are still tricky merges/exits with little or no space to get on or off much less with visibility. All this aside, it's something that you will learn to live with to get around when you live in Santa Cruz. Just give yourself plenty of time to get back and forth! Good luck.

[lexi]

Thank you!! I think I'll use it as little as possible and not at night for sure
or during commuting hours!

[K-Luv]

Highway 17 is dangerous because there is literally a curve about every ten seconds, or less. Some of those curves are really sharp and if you are not paying attention, or don't slow down fast enough then your screwed.

Driving this stretch of highway is pretty much like riding on a rollercoaster-one second you are turning to the left, then all of a sudden you are sharply veering towards the right. With that, and the fact that people drive way to fast + weather/road conditions is just a recipe for disaster.

[MtnSurfer]

So all of this begs the question, why don't the local regular commuters slow down and drive at sane speeds? I was part joking and part serious when I said it seems like people drive like they are on crack with 5 too many cups of coffee.

So what gives? Maybe there is no good answer and it is just the way people behave here. Human nature is sometimes a strange thing. Or is it just simple stupidity? LOL...

[Chimpie]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

So what gives? Maybe there is no good answer and it is just the way people behave here. .... Or is it just simple stupidity? LOL...

It's just simple stupidity.... which is no good answer.

[scarletfire]

Lexi, Do you live in Santa Cruz now? We lived off Pleasure Point when we first relo'd to California and that drive from Santa Cruz to San Jose scared the living hell out of me! The windy roads and no one seems to slow down one bit. Plus our first winter there we had such bad rain that there were mudslides up on 17. Just look at the skid marks all up to the top of the jersey barriers in the middle of the highway to see what became of some other unfortunate drivers. Not a fun experience even in dry weather I thought.

In the end, I found Santa Cruz a little depressing anyway and the drive unbearable so we moved to Campbell (couldn't quite afford Los Gatos but would have loved to!) :-)

[el cuervo]

Another thing - Hwy 17 is different from most of the other roads that bay area drivers are familiar with. It isn't really a freeway; it has curves that are not perfectly banked; there are areas that still sink within 6 mos of every repaving; and straight stretches end suddenly in a series of tight turns. You can't drive it the same as Hwy 880.

The worst times are week-ends, when more young drivers are headed to or from the beach. Most regular week-day commuters have gotten used to the hill, and drive pretty well, without much weaving through traffic trying to get ahead, though I agree they are guilty sometimes of driving too close together when conditions turn bad.

I agree with the Colorado driver - There are places where most of the roads are more hazardous than Hwy 17, and people get around reasonably safely - while sober anyway. But in those places mountain roads are the norm, along with bad weather, and everyone who spends some time there learns how to navigate the mountain roads.