The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) is in the midst of planning for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network (Scenic Trail Network) project and will solicit public input during community workshops. The first round of workshops will be held on December 13th, 14th and 15th in North County, Mid County and South County locations respectively. The county-wide Scenic Trail Network project merges plans for a bicycle/pedestrian trail along the rail line, often referred to as the “rail trail”, with coastal alignments and neighborhood spur trails. The resulting network will overlap and converge with existing paths to provide convenient route choices. The trail will serve transportation, recreation and interpretive uses for walkers, joggers, bicyclists, wheelchair users, locals and visitors, and will eventually form a ring around the bay to provide increased coastal access to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. A highlight of the Scenic Trail Network is that it will provide more opportunities to get around Santa Cruz County without the use of a car and away from automobile traffic.
During the December workshops, members of the public will hear a presentation about the Scenic Trail Network project scope and will be able to review detailed maps of preliminary alignments. Other topics that may be addressed during the workshop include: which destinations and existing paths should the trail connect to, how can the trail be designed to benefit the greatest number of users, how will trail design and use be coordinated with freight and passenger rail service, and how and when will the Scenic Trail Network be built and funded. The final work product will be a Master Plan, a draft of which will be released during the summer of 2012, with priority segments identified for construction as funding is secured. In addition, an environmental review document conforming to the California Environmental Quality Act will be prepared concurrently to guide the development of the Master Plan.
All Community Workshops will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the following locations.Tuesday, December 13th Pacific Elementary School, Davenport (50 Ocean Street, Davenport, CA 95017)Wednesday, December 14th Simpkins Swim Center, Live Oak (979 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA)Thursday, December 15th Watsonville Civic Building Community Room (275 Main St. 4th Floor, Watsonville, CA, 95076) (Spanish translator available)
More information, including project history and a brochure for the public workshops in English and Spanish, can be accessed on the RTC’s website: http://sccrtc.org/projects/multi-modal/monterey-bay-sanctuary-scenic-trail/
For information about the Regional Transportation Commission’s projects and programs, please log on to www.sccrtc.org or call 831.460-3200.