New Santa Cruz Rail Trail Plans Revealed Thursday

SANTA CRUZ – The City of Santa Cruz is hosting an informal, public meeting to share the progress plans with the public for the Coastal Rail Trail within the City of Santa Cruz on Thursday, Jan. 28, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Santa Cruz Police Department Community Room, 155 Center Street.

According to information provided by the city, the project will be a paved, 12 to 16-foot wide multi-use path running from Natural Bridges Drive to Pacific Avenue near the wharf.

The City of Santa Cruz is the lead agency on design and construction of the Coastal Rail Trail within its jurisdiction and is working in partnership with the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission.

Construction of this 2-mile segment is estimated to start in early 2017 and take one year.

City officials say the Coastal Rail Trail segment is the highest priority in the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Master Plan. The plan identifies the 32-mile coastal rail corridor from Watsonville to Davenport for an adjacent bike/pedestrian path and another 18 miles of spur trails to provide coastal and neighborhood connectivity.

The Regional Transportation Commission purchased the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line to provide the bike/pedestrian trail and to pursue future passenger rail service.

The design and environmental services, construction, construction engineering and management, and permitting for this project is both state and federally funded, with a 20 percent local match.

Community groups Friends of the Rail & Trail, Bike Santa Cruz County and Ecology Action have raised private donations as a match to public funds to help build this section of the Coastal Rail Trail.

Drawings and models of the project will be on display at the open house including depiction of the alignment of the Coastal Rail Trail in its entirety as well as cross sections.

For questions or more information, please contact Project Manager Nathan Nguyen at (831) 420-5188.

-images of rail trail depiction, first private donation for construction of the Coastal Rail Trail within the City of Santa Cruz presented by Bike Santa Cruz County, Friends of the Rail & Trail and Ecology Action to Santa Cruz Mayor Lynn Robinson on Nov. 25, 2014 via City of Santa Cruz