SANTA CRUZ -- Getting around on the Westside could be difficult Thursday, as students at UC Santa Cruz will be protesting budget cuts at the foot of campus during the March 4 Day of Action.
Starting as early as 6 a.m., hundreds of students are expected to attempt to block access to campus at both the intersection of Bay Drive and High Street and at the west campus entrance at Empire Grade Road and Heller Drive.
While the university has met with local enforcement agencies, including Santa Cruz police and the California Highway Patrol who will be on-call, the rallies mostly will be monitored by campus police and university staff, said spokesman Jim Burns.
"The priority will be to try and maintain access to campus and to ensure that the protest, at whatever scale, is safe," he said.
Campus shuttle buses are expected to run, although student throngs may impede their travel, he said. City buses, if need be, will drop students off at the base of campus. University officials have informed both Westlake Elementary School and Waldorf School, which neighbor the university of possible delays because of the protest and have talked to neighborhood associations surrounding campus to help during the day. Events are scheduled until 5 p.m. on campus, and afterward, members of all levels of education and the education community will gather at the Town Clock downtown for another rally.
Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend said officers will be available