Santa Cruz County Transportation Digest

Aptos Creek Road, the main entrance to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, has seen a large surge of traffic since the pandemic. What hadn’t changed, until now, was the poor condition of this narrow single-lane access route.

At its Oct. 6 meeting, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission will analyze costs and funding strategies for continued construction and maintenance on 32-mile Coastal Rail Trail.

Through Nov. 4, the public can review and comment on a Draft Environmental Impact Report for two more segments of the Coastal Rail Trail. Segments 8 and 9 stretch from Beach Street/Pacific Avenue in the city of Santa Cruz to the eastern side of 17th Avenue in Live Oak.

Open Streets Santa Cruz returns to West Cliff Drive on Oct. 16. Now in its eight year, the event will close off car traffic to two miles of West Cliff Drive, from Lighthouse Point to Natural Bridges State Park, so that people can walk, bicycle, roll, play, and dance in the street with no cars.

Due to a shortage of bus operators nationwide and locally, Santa Cruz Metro is making temporary route modifications. The agency is offering a two-week free fare promotion to encourage ridership and allow riders to get acquainted with the service changes.

The California Transportation Commission has allocated more than $16 million in funding for local transportation infrastructure improvement projects.

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and Caltrans will pause plans for an HOV lane after a recent court ruling ordered Caltrans to revise a report completed more than three years ago. The challenge came from the Campaign for Sustainable Transportation and the Sierra Club.

The California Transportation Commission has committed $4.4 million to repair an eroded slope on Highway 17 south of Sugarloaf Road near Scotts Valley. Construction is set to begin in December, according to Caltrans.

The city of Santa Cruz will start construction on the second phase of Segment 7 of the multiuse Coast Rail Trail. According to transportation planner Claire Gallogly, the project will add “a great option for those of all ages and abilities to travel without a car.”

At the first meeting of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission board after the definitive “no” vote on Measure D, the question remained: Where do we go from here?

Leaders of both Yes Greenway and No Way Greenway provided Lookout Santa Cruz with detailed answers to a range of questions on core issues in the rail-trail debate.

Civic leader Mark Mesiti-Miller and Roaring Camp president Melani Clark are working to defeat Measure D. Who are they, and what led to their high-profile involvement?

The leader of the Measure D campaign is a philanthropist on big projects in housing, health care, science, education and the arts. As point man for a trail-only option on Santa Cruz County’s coastal rail corridor, he’s also a lightning rod in one of the most polarizing votes in memory.

Measure D—the rail-trail dispute—isn’t only the most contentious issue to come before Santa Cruz County voters in a while. It’s also become one of the most expensive—with almost $800,000 raised through May 21.

With the June 7 election around the corner, former California Gov. Jerry Brown has weighed in on the Measure D Greenway Initiative in Santa Cruz County.

According to a recent report from Energy Innovation Policy and Technology, in many states, electric cars are cheaper to buy than traditional gas cars.

Measure D is giving us all a headache. Part of the problem is perspective, 1st District Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manu Koenig writes. Our views are shaped by where we live.

Four Measure D proponents write in Lookout Santa Cruz’s Community Voices section: “Those against Measure D say they started the work to acquire the corridor and build a trail in 1987—35 years ago!”

Peggy Dolgenos of Cruzio writes that her walk from downtown to the Westside recently improved. “I get to walk on the newly built rail trail! Lots of people use the trail, biking, walking, in wheelchairs, pushing strollers. And next to the trail, there’s room for a train. I hope to ride that train someday.”

The Land Trust of Santa Cruz County has supported the Rail Trail project since 2015. A piece on the group’s stance on Measure D explains, “Another long public planning and vetting process would be repeated with the passage of the 2022 Measure D, further delaying the trail’s completion.”

Elaborating on its opposition to Measure D, Ecology Action explains that public planning processes aim to include diverse voices in local decision-making, whereas voter referendums sidestep planning and minimize a complex issue into a simple “yes” or “no” vote.

What’s wrong with the rail trail debate is what’s wrong with American democracy in 2022, Wallace Baine writes. Why isn’t “Maybe,” or “It’s Complicated,” or “This Is Not My Field,” or “Whatever, Dude” one of the answers to a profound question of how we live our lives, recreate and commute in Santa Cruz County?

Writing for Lookout Santa Cruz’s Community Voices, 3rd District Supervisor Ryan Coonerty says the intensity of debate around Measure D is pointless given one stark political reality: No matter how the vote goes, without compromises, Santa Cruz County won’t build anything for decades.

May is National Bicycle Safety Month, providing an opportunity for the California Highway Patrol and Office of Traffic Safety to remind everyone on the road—cyclists, pedestrians and drivers—that traffic safety laws are in place to save lives.

The Greenway plan to build a 32-mile trail, accessible to all, is fully funded and can be built now. The trail will preserve the natural landscape and showcase the beauty of our coastline.

Up and down Santa Cruz County and across the political spectrum, organizations and elected officials are taking a stand against the measure.

Local train history blog SantaCruzTrains.com provides a fascinating and detailed history of commuter and excursion train service in the county, ending with their take on upcoming Measure D.

After a presentation from RTC staff and an extended period of public comment, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Committee voted to adopt an “alternative” programming resolution that stated no preference for either of the two possible Highway 1 and Coast Rail Trail project scenarios.

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission wants public input on two agenda items: the 2022 Unmet Transit and Paratransit Needs List and the allocation of funds raised from the 2016 voter-approved Measure D.

The editor of CalRail News, the publication of the California Train Riders Association, comes out swinging in opposition of Measure D.

Santa Cruz isn’t the only town the future of a rail line is freighted with controversy. There’s a battle brewing between the owners of the historic Skunk Train and city officials in coastal Fort Bragg, and the outcome could shape the character of Mendocino County.

A dangerous bend on Highway 17 in Los Gatos, dubbed Laurel Curve, is notoriously deadly for wildlife attempting to cross the busy throughway. But after a decade of prep, work has begun on a wildlife underpass for at-risk species, such as mountain lions.