Santa Cruz County Works To Make Cycling Safer Across The Region

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Approximately 300 locations across Santa Cruz County are getting new bicycle wayfinding signs installed to assist all types of cyclists in finding and accessing major destinations throughout the region. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission began the installing the signs May 29.

The cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville are both rated as bicycle friendly communities by the League of American Bicyclists, with Santa Cruz getting a gold star for its efforts. UC Santa Cruz is also on LAB's list of bicycle friendly campuses.

The county, however, is working to make cycling safer, and the RTC worked with community partners to identify and sign preferred routes that have connectivity to bicycle lanes or paths.

“The bike signage program provides necessary signage to help cyclists stay safe and improve visibility, while also providing critical information for all transportation users,” said Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold. “As we see more people on their bikes, this signage is a welcome addition to our community.”

Construction, which is being done by the RTC’s construction contractor San Jose’s Linear Tech Striping, will start in Santa Cruz and be done in phases with most of the work completed before the end of this year, according to county officials. The installation work will be completed in small segments with work moving around different areas of the county to accommodate periods of traffic. There will be gaps in signage along the preferred routes until the full installation is completed, the officials said.

Installation will be minimally impactful to bicyclists, pedestrian and drivers. However, some intermittent lane closures will be necessary during the construction period, according to the county. Lane closure information will be posted on the RTC’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sccrtc).

As part of the project, bicycle and pedestrian count data will be collected before and after signage installation, and a public outreach campaign to promote awareness of the routes will take place.