Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission On the Move
By Noel Smith
Highway 1
Several major projects reached completion or major milestones in 2013 according to SCCRTC Executive Director George Dondero. The major undertaking that was on everyone’s radar was the Hwy 1 Soquel/Morrissey Project. “It came in under budget and on time,” said Dondero, “It was the first project of this magnitude that the SCCRTC took on the task of project manager. Usually Caltrans takes on this responsibility.”
Dondero was surprised by the community’s response to the official opening of the new La Fonda Bridge over highway 1, which was a major part of the project. “We knew it would be a big inconvenience especially for school kids and their parents with a major school at either end, Harbor High School and Delaveaga Elementary School. We arranged for shuttle buses, ridesharing and even bicycle trailers. When we had the grand reopening, we figured on several dozen people showing up but there were over 500 people there to celebrate the event. There was also a cake but not a crumb was left when it was all over. And the people were great. They appreciated what we had to deal with during the construction.”
According to Sr. Transportation Planner, Karena Pushnik, the next section of Highway 1 scheduled for auxiliary lanes will be from Soquel Avenue to 41st Street. “The current plan is to add these lanes, section-by-section, out to San Andreas Road.”
Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network
Another major event for the SCCRTC was the finalization of the Master Plan and the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network. The plan covers all the way from Waddell Bluffs on the north to the Pajaro River on the south where it links up with Monterey County’s portion of the network. Also, $5.3 million in funding was received for the trail the first major portion of which will be spent for most of segment 7 on the west end of the city of Santa Cruz.
Rail Transportation
A project now underway and expected to be completed this coming fall is the rehabilitation of the La Selva trestle. This will allow the rail corridor to again become a viable transportation alternative for freight and eventually passenger use. It is expected that the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway Company (Iowa Pacific) will be running excursion and dinner trains by along some stretches of the 32-mile long SCCRTC owned corridor by 2016.
Complete Streets Guidebook
To help local transportation planning, the Complete Streets Guidebook has all the criteria for integrating the needs of all forms of transportation. Thus city streets that must have room for cars, pedestrians, bicyclists, bus riders and have to take into account the special needs of schools and seniors have proven standards in the guidebook that meet all these needs.
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Something for Everyone on the Move!
Courtesy Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation System
Whether you walk, bicycle, take the bus, or drive; there is a one-stop resource for transportation information for you – it’s the website for everybody — www.sccrtc.org — the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation System’s website.
On the right hand side of the home page is the Commute Solutions area. Here you will find the Commuter HelpDesk. For commuters it is full of information about ridesharing (carpooling), vanpooling, park and ride and alternatives to driving. If you are a student, there is the Getting to School section that has all the transportation options from K through college. The college section is arranged by school, which includes UCSC, Cabrillo College and San Jose State.
For those looking for transportations options, there is the Getting Around menu which has information on walking, bicycling, taking the bus both local & area-wide, driving, and transportation for seniors and for travelers.
Under Commute Solutions, select Traffic Conditions to view the Caltrans Quickmap. The Quickmap shows traffic conditions throughout California. Choose the area you want, and then select the type of information such as slow/fast traffic condition, lane closures and traffic incidents. You can even see screen shots or real-time videos of traffic on our highways.
And then there is the Bike Maps link under Commute Solutions that has some of the best maps for bikers and really for anyone wanting good maps of the county and its cities.
Good getting around Santa Cruz County and be sure to visit www.sccrtc.org for local transportation information.