SCCRTC Study Workshops Rescheduled

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s Unified Corridor Investment Study Workshops have been rescheduled! Please note the new dates and locations below.

Monday, October 2 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Watsonville Public Library, 275 Main Street in Watsonville (Parking in Garage)

Tuesday, October 3 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Live Oak Elementary School Multipurpose Room 1916 Capitola Rd in Live Oak

Please join the discussion about transportation options for our community’s mobility needs now and into the future. The Unified Corridor Study is investigating what projects on Highway 1, Soquel and Freedom, and the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line will provide the greatest benefit to the community. Your input — on how best to improve the economic vitality, natural environment, and health and equity goals of our region — is vital to the success of this study! Please attend a workshop and forward this email to your networks.

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The Unified Corridor Study

Highway 1, Soquel Avenue/Drive and Freedom, and the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line are parallel transportation routes in Santa Cruz County. Highway 1 and Soquel Avenue/Drive are two of the most heavily traveled and congested roadways in Santa Cruz County. Acquisition of the rail line provides a unique opportunity to create a corridor investment study that best utilizes these facilities.

The Unified Corridor Study will identify transportation projects that make the most effective use of these three parallel routes as one unified corridor to provide vehicle, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian transportation services for Santa Cruz County residents and visitors. Using a performance based approach, the Unified Corridor Study will prioritize projects for these transportation routes based on a triple bottom line analysis that considers equity, environment and the economy.

Unified Corridor Investment Study
Phase 1

Phase 1 to develop Santa Cruz County multimodal transportation modeling tools has been completed. Transportation modeling tools support a performance-based approach to transportation decision-making. The transportation modeling tools will allow for analysis of future project impacts on the local roadway network, and of sustainable transportation projects identified in the 2014 RTP. Development of the model was a cooperative effort with the County of Santa Cruz Planning Department and Caltrans.

Phase 2

Phase 2 will evaluate how transportation projects located within the project area perform using a two-step scenario analysis. Phase 2 will utilize the modeling tools developed in Phase 1 to evaluate project impacts. RTC staff along with input from the Commission, RTC advisory committees, stakeholders, and public will establish the project goals, performance measures, list of projects to consider, and scenarios to evaluate for implementation on this corridor.

A two-step scenario analysis will be performed to identify a package of transportation projects that will provide the greatest benefit based on the project goals.