Carmageddon: RTC to consider $4.5M engineering contract for 12 miles of rail trail in Mid- and South County

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) will consider awarding an engineering services contract for seven segments of the Coastal Rail Trail at its Thursday meeting as it returns from its July hiatus.

The 32-mile Coastal Rail Trail is a planned bicycle and pedestrian path envisioned to stretch from Davenport through Watsonville. While only a handful of the segments are complete at this point, the eight segments involved in the contract award, Segments 13 through 20, will add about 12 miles of trail from Rio Del Mar Boulevard in Aptos to the Pajaro Junction in north Monterey County. They would be the first continuous segments in Mid-County and South County.

RTC staff began soliciting proposals from engineering consultants in December 2025 for the project approval and environmental documentation phase. The initial slate of work involves preliminary engineering, right-of-way services, National Environmental Policy Act review, permitting and bid and design support.

Two companies, Thomas & Company, Inc. and HDR Engineering, Inc., sent proposals. Following staff evaluation from the RTC, City of Watsonville and County of Santa Cruz, the selection panel chose HDR as the top candidate. HDR has also acted as consultant on the RTC’s ambitious passenger rail project throughout its development.

The cost of the proposal is just shy of $4.5 million. RTC staff are recommending that the commission adopt a resolution authorizing the executive director to negotiate and enter a three-year contract with HDR.

Thursday’s meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors chambers, Room 500B at the county government building at 701 Ocean St. in Santa Cruz; it’s also available here via Zoom.

Santa Cruz Metro leaders picked for statewide transit advisory roles

Santa Cruz Metro CEO Corey Aldridge and Chief Planning and Innovation Officer John Urgo have both been selected to serve on the California Transit Advisory Committee, the local transit agency announced last week.

Aldridge was appointed to the Transit Funding Force, a new body that will advise and prepare the California Transit Association staff for negotiations about Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund expenditures, as well as evaluate possible new state revenue sources for public transit operations and help the agency secure funding during the 2027-28 legislative session.

“Transit systems need reliable, long-term funding to maintain essential service, respond to rising operating costs and continue investing in cleaner, more connected communities. I look forward to working with transit leaders from across the state to identify practical funding solutions that support agencies and the people who rely on them,” Aldridge said in a media release from Santa Cruz Metro.

Urgo will advise the California Transit Advisory Committee, a body responsible for guiding the implementation of California Department of Transportation documents and policies through strategic input. The committee works with a variety of different entities, including Caltrans, transit advocacy groups and partner agencies.

“Transit planning works best when state, regional and local partners collaborate closely and incorporate the experiences of the communities they serve. I look forward to contributing to policies and plans that make public transportation faster, more reliable, more sustainable and easier to access throughout California,” Urgo said in the release.

Latest news

Here’s what’s happening this week on our roadways:

• Utility and shoulder work is shutting down one lane in various sections of Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those sections are between Arboleda Way/Highland and Hubbard Gulch Road, Ramona Drive and Stapp Road, and Tin Can Ranch Road and the 23.5-mile mark on Highway 35.

• The southbound Highway 1 off-ramp at Bay Avenue in Capitola is scheduled to be closed for approximately four months from Sunday as crews reconstruct the ramp as part of the bus-on-shoulder project. 

• Bridge work is currently shutting down alternating lanes of Highway 9 in Boulder Creek between Pool Drive and Old County Highway and Riverdale Park and Monaco Lane until April 30, 2027.

• Roadway excavation is shutting down the southbound Highway 1 on-ramp at Park Avenue in Capitola until Aug. 19.

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