Those of you who travel on Highway 1 between Santa Cruz and Capitola have seen the new pedestrian bridge under construction at Chanticleer Avenue (shown above).
The original intent seems to have been to provide a walk/bike connection between the health care hub north of the freeway (around Dominican and Sutter hospitals) and developing health care-related facilities on the south side. The bridge approach on the south side begins in front of the County Sheriff facility, which opened in 2014. 
That development was to have been led by health-care giant Kaiser Permanente, which showed plans for a large new facility on Soquel Avenue (Hwy. 1 frontage road) near the corner of Chanticleer. The County planned to chip in with pedestrian/bike safety improvements to the northern segment of Chanticleer Avenue, a chaotic stretch where there are now no sidewalks or bike lanes.
But Kaiser abruptly changed its plans in May 2023, deciding to abandon the development plan. And now it appears that the County has put northern Chanticleer Ave. improvements on indefinite hold. Without those improvements, how many people are going to be brave enough to walk/ride on the street (Google Street View below)? We'll keep an eye on this one.
