By Noel Smith
The new Aptos Village development will provide some much needed changes and improvements for pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area. There will be two phases to the project. The developer has already begun phase one and work will begin by the county for its phase one after school is out in June 2016.
After a long discussion with the County’s Senior Civil Engineer, Jack Sohriakoff, here is a summary of the changes in store for Aptos roads and traffic. Many of these changes are being paid for by the developer from a fund that is currently ~$1.3 million. As construction proceeds, more building and mitigation fees will be collected from the developer to offset a total estimated cost of $3.5 million.
There are eleven intersections in and around the project. Some existing ones will be changed, some new ones will be created, and some will remain essentially the same.
Two of the five intersections on Soquel drive involving local and through traffic will have new traffic lights and dedicated left turn lanes. These are Trout Gulch Road installed in phase one, and Aptos Creek Road during phase 2. Including the lights at Spreckels Drive, these three sets of lights will be synchronized, which means that as traffic changes, the timing of the lights will be optimized for best traffic flow.
During phase one Aptos Creek Road will be right turn only onto Soquel Drive. Those on Aptos Creek Road wanting to turn left will have to detour through Aptos Village on the new Aptos Village Way, then turn right onto Trout Gulch Road to reach Soquel Drive. This is the one major change affecting traffic on and off Soquel Drive during construction.
No changes are currently planned for the Spreckles Drive/Soquel Drive and Aptos Street/Soquel Drive intersections.
Aptos Village Way will go east/west through the new village to connect Aptos Creek Rd, Parade Street and Trout Gulch Road. Parade Street will be a right turn only onto Soquel Drive while traffic from both directions (east/west) on Soquel Drive will be able to enter Aptos Village via Parade Street.
The intersections of Trout Gulch Road/Aptos Street and Valencia Street/Cathedral Drive will have some improvements for pedestrians and minor changes as will the intersection of Granite Way/Cathedral Drive.
The rail line will have three sets of crossing gates at Aptos Creek Road, Parade Street and Trout Gulch Road, which already has crossing gates.
Many of the improvements on Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road involve pedestrian traffic. Pedestrian walkways and crossings on Soquel Drive will direct people onto the south side of Soquel Drive from Aptos Creek Road to Post Office Drive/Trout Gulch Road, to include the historic boardwalk. North/south pedestrian crossings on Soquel Drive will also exist at Parade Street and the east side of Post Office Drive/Trout Gulch Road. Pedestrian traffic heading north on Trout Gulch Road will have walkways on both sides.
According to the county, these improvements and the addition of the railroad crossing at Parade Street will NOT be paid for with general fund taxpayer dollars but accrue from grants and other sources of money for transportation and from the developer. My thanks to Jack Sohriakoff for his patience in answering our many questions.
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Next issue we will find out about parking in and around the new Aptos Village.