A new overhead rail line near the Boardwalk and a bridge or tunnel crossing Highway 1 at Cabrillo College are amongst two new proposals that the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) revealed last week at its Watsonville and Live Oak community meetings.
The meetings highlighted transformative plans for public transit along the county’s 32-mile rail line from Watsonville to Santa Cruz. The rail trail was approved in concept by 75 percent of voters two years ago. However, many of the specifics were unknown at that time. The rail line was built in 1876.
The project proposes a single track accommodating a zero-emissions commuter train alongside freight train operations. In 2018 the RTC gave the freight company Progressive Rail a 10-year contract to operate on the tracks.
One of the things some 70 community members learned at a meeting held at the Live Oak Community Center was that the public could petition for quiet zones around housing and schools—however, those zones would absolve the train operators from any damage they cause there.
Trains are required to blow horns before 29 road intersections to warn traffic and pedestrians. However, residents could petition the federal rail agency for so-called quiet zones. These zones, however, would shift liability to the community in the event of an accident.
RTC project manager Riley Gerbrandt said the community has requested 20 station stops along the route and the agency would like to have one train in each direction every hour. However, he said, it might be impossible to maintain that schedule if electric trains stopped at every station.
“We want to work with the community to weigh the pros and cons and finalize station locations, trail alignments, and design considerations,” Gerbrandt said.
Because of the heavy pedestrian and car traffic by the Boardwalk, the RTC is considering an elevated track. The tracks now run along the street in front of the tourist attraction. Trains would make navigation difficult, RTC staff said and would be a hazard for emergency vehicles.
Gerbrandt told audience members that the trail would have to split from the rail in several places in Live Oak, Capitola, Rio Del Mar and South County, including around 41st Avenue and by McGregor Street in Aptos because the area wasn’t wide enough to accommodate both the tracks and a path. At 41st Avenue and around Jade Street Park bikes, wheelchairs and pedestrians would have to navigate along streets. At McGregor the tracks would become a path and new train tracks would have to be built closer to Highway 1.
Cabrillo College President Matthew Wetstein praised the potential rail stop near campus, highlighting its alignment with the college’s planned 271-unit student housing project. “This provides an excellent alternative transportation option for students traveling between Santa Cruz and Watsonville,” he said.
The RTC is currently in the project concept report stage, with further refinements expected in January. Community feedback will continue to be gathered through Dec. 20. Construction is tentatively scheduled following the completion of environmental reviews and design finalizations in 2027.
The rail trail project is partly funded by federal and state grants, including $37.7 million from the Federal Lands Access Program and $13.8 million from Measure D, a local sales tax. The RTC purchased the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line in 2012 from Union Pacific for $11 million.
Many in the audience were critical of the plan, including residents of a mobile home park who said they would have to move. The RTC will hold a public hearing on Dec. 5 to discuss the project and its potential impact on local communities.
Coastal Trail Conservancy member Jack Brown said the project was “an incredibly poor use of resources” mentioning a lack of cost information.
“On a twelve-foot trail, with six feet each direction, it’s not gonna fit,” Brown said.
Estimates for the project, which would include replacing historic wooden bridges, range in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
They keep putting lipstick on this pig! When will the local political machine and special interests concede that their good intentions are not feasible.
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It was a pleasure to meet Alesandro Manzella at the public meeting (or as I like to refer to it as a live-action email since they were very aggressive about not having a townhall style meeting), but he has some portions of the article incorrect. Voters did not approve the rail trail project and voters have never directly voted for rail in Santa Cruz County. The vote in 2022 was to change verbiage in the County’s General Plan to remove rail and promote railbanking as a faster and much less expensive way to construct the trail as there is no funding whatsoever for a train. There has been no official estimate published yet by the RTC, or even a scoping estimate, but the last study put the cost at $1.3 Billion (pre-pandemic, inflation) and one consultant for the RTC, Robert Yeates of HDR, blurted out that cost may be higher than $5 Billion (Source: https://youtu.be/HgpESpdaB6c?si=SwKRys3OC0fMKe9b&t=3382) . Not only are there issues with mobile home owners being forced out of their homes, business may have to close in Aptos Village with this plan. It is a horrible idea and people should ask ten very serious questions about the project at the website zeprt.com like
1. How much will the overall project cost?
2. How long will it take to start construction?
3. How long will it take to complete construction?
4. What will be the maximum capacity of a train?
5. How many people could use the train vs. how many people use the highway?
6. How much of the cost will be paid for by local taxpayers?
7. Will it be a sales tax? WIll it be a property tax? How much will they go up? For how long?
8. What will be the subsidy taxpayers will be expected to pay per trip? (Metro costs taxpayers $12-$20 per every $0-$2 fare)
9. How many 140db horn blasts will occur for a train going one direction to another? How many times a day? What will the hours be?
10. How much does a quiet zone study cost? How many will be submitted? What will be the cost for the additional infrastructure required to support quiet zones and possible liability for accidents. (38 people were killed by trains in California in 2023)
So, this pipe dream group gave a commercial rail license to Progressive Rail- we are now 6 years into that 10 year contract, and not a single freight shipment has been made. How’s this all going to work out for you?
There is not enough population to support this. The entire Bay Area train system runs at a deficit, but at least there’s millions of people that can use it! The population density here is far, far too low. And your estimates to build it? Triple or quadruple them, because nobody building these things seems to be able to predict a budget. And the trail system that could have been on the east side is slowed down by this idiocracy.
Correction to this reporter’s article: It is not residents who petition the RTC for Quiet Zones (QZ). Residents can petition their City or County jurisdiction and it is those jurisdictions (aka taxpayers) that must petition the RTC. It is also those jurisdictions (aka taxpayers) that will be financially responsible for the extra infrastructure of the QZs and for liability at the QZ crossings. Question: how much will all of this cost? In 2022, when voters thought they were voting for a train, no one had a clue what the total cost of such a project would be. The only figure that has been proffered so far is about $1.3 billion. Wanna bet it will be more?!
Never going to happen. Pass out free e bikes to everyone in the county and it would be cheaper and more beneficial to the community and the environment
Is this a journalist writing this article?
Guy is severely misinformed and spreading his misinformation
Thank you for the helpful presentation on the rail and trail project.
The proposed service connecting to Cabrillo and making it work at the Boardwalk are impressive.
Please don’t give fake organizations like the “Coastal Trail Conservancy” any press in the future.
It’s a creation of the now-failed Yes-Greenway campaign.
The Santa Cruz County Coastal Trail Conservancy is just as fake as Friends of the Rail and Trail’s Equity Transit. Greenway and the Trail Conservancy are two separate, yet complimentary organizations.
The Santa Cruz County Coastal Trail Conservancy (coastaltrail.org) is dedicated to creating a world-class coastal trail that connects Santa Cruz County communities, supports sustainable transportation, and preserves the natural beauty of the Santa Cruz coastline. By fostering partnerships, advocating for an accessible active transportation corridor at the state and federal level, and prioritizing right sized mass transit for the area’s population and geography, the Coastal Trail Conservancy aims to enhance public enjoyment of the region’s iconic coastline. The conservancy is complementing the efforts of Greenway, which envisions transforming the existing rail corridor into a vibrant, multi-use pathway by advocating at the local level, the SCCTC brings a shared commitment to community engagement and ecological stewardship. Together, these organizations promote a unified vision of a coastal trail that prioritizes safety, accessibility, and harmony with the environment while strengthening connections between our diverse communities and natural spaces.
Gosh I want a commuter rail so badly in Santa Cruz County. My ideal route would go up the 1 and end at the northside of Mission Street, with some rails stopping at the main exits
JacK Browm and his failed friends at “greenway” (LOL!) are going to forever crush any other type of motorized transportation in our county. pity. thankfully, many of us support the rail line.
as a Cabrillo trustee, speaking ONLY for myself ( not the campus president, the other trustees or the college), i am delighted to welcome either a bridge or a tunnel onto the Cabrillo Aptos campus to facilitate student and employee traffic to and from the campus. it will complement the new dorm we hope to have finished by mid 2027. time marches on , folks. the census bureau reports CA population is now growing again, up to and past 40 million. it is NOT 1959 anymore, and we will have to live with growth in population. that means dorms on the campuses and electric trains to transport people. we can make it quite livable and see the beauty in it.