Millions Of Tax Dollars Eyed For Santa Cruz County Transportation

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — The public and county officials are weighing in on how millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent on transportation improvements for Santa Cruz County over the next five years. The Regional Transportation Commission has been soliciting public feedback about how it should invest the voter-approved Measure D revenues. A public hearing will be held on the matter Thursday at 9:30 a.m. during RTC’s meeting at the Watsonville City Council Chambers, 275 Main Street, 4th Floor, Watsonville, to adopt the regional project five-year plans for Fiscal Years 2019/2020-2023/2024.

The RTC is responsible for allocating funds to regional transportation projects, including the highway corridor, Coastal Rail Trail-Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network, the rail corridor, the San Lorenzo Valley Highway 9 Corridor, and the Highway 17 Wildlife Crossing. During Thursday's meeting, the RTC will also take action on the Community Bridges’ Lift Line proposed five-year plan.

The RTC currently proposes to use Measure D revenues—along with state and federal grants—on the following regional projects over the next five years (see www.sccrtc.org/move for more project details):

· Highway 1: Auxiliary lanes linking on and off ramps between 41st Avenue to Soquel Avenue and a bicycle/pedestrian bridge at Chanticleer Avenue in Live Oak, a bicycle/pedestrian overcrossing at Mar Vista in Aptos, and auxiliary lanes between Bay/Porter and State Park Drive exits.
· Coastal Rail Trail: Construction of bicycle/pedestrian trail sections in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and the north coast, as well as environmental review and preliminary design of trail sections between Live Oak and Aptos.
· Rail Corridor: Maintenance and more detailed analysis of bus and rail transit options in the rail corridor.
· San Lorenzo Valley/Highway 9: Begin work on a pathway in Felton between Graham Hill Road and the elementary/middle/high school complex, and other projects identified in the Highway 9/San Lorenzo Valley (SLV) Complete Streets Corridor Plan (which is scheduled to be completed in June).
· Highway 17 Wildlife Crossing: Construct the undercrossing.

Measure D was passed by over two-thirds of Santa Cruz County voters in November 2016 and provides funds for county highway, local road, trail, rail and transit programs. It is a 30-year, half-cent local sales tax that went into effect in April 2017.