Quick Take
At its Thursday meeting, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission will hold a discussion and public hearing to decide how to allocate Measure D funds over the next five years.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission will hold a public hearing at its Thursday meeting to discuss how Measure D revenue will be allocated over the next five years.
Measure D, passed by county voters in 2016, is a half-cent sales tax dedicated to funding transportation projects and programs over 30 years. It raises roughly $27 million annually. Since its implementation, the tax revenues have gone toward projects such as the Coastal Rail Trail, a Highway 17 overcrossing and the major Highway 1 widening project. They have also been used to prevent service cuts and cover more routine maintenance, like filling potholes.
The hearing is an annual occurrence that each agency receiving Measure D funds must complete, and the RTC is in charge of putting together the five-year plans for the regional categories — highway corridors, active transportation, the rail corridor, the Highway 17 wildlife crossing and the San Lorenzo Valley Highway 9 corridor. It also develops the five-year plan for Community Bridges’ Lift Line, which gives door-to-door rides to seniors and people with disabilities.
According to a staff report, the proposed five-year plans for fiscal years 2026-27 through 2030-31 have no new major projects, but do involve new programming. The plans include funding for several major ongoing efforts, including matching funds for grants related to the environmental work of the passenger rail project, debt service for bonds issued in the upcoming fiscal year, rail line infrastructure maintenance cost increases, Highway 1 widening project construction support costs for the segment from State Park Drive in Aptos to the Bay Avenue/Porter Street exit in Capitola/Soquel.
If the proposed allocations are approved, over the next five years, the Highway 1 project will get the most money in the highway corridors section, with over $88 million expected. Of the active transportation projects, rail trail Segments 10 and 11 will get the most with over $17 million, but all segments in development are receiving Measure D funds. Rail infrastructure preservation will get over $20 million, and the Boulder Creek Complete Streets improvements will get $2.4 million. Lift Line services will get about $5.7 million to fund new driver and trainer positions, along with some administrative and operations funding.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors chamber and is also available remotely via Zoom.
Bike Santa Cruz County celebrating 2026 Wheelie Awards
If you didn’t plan to join the RTC meeting, you can check out Bike Santa Cruz County’s Wheelie Awards celebration at Woodhouse Blending and Brewing on Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The organization holds the annual event to recognize the best the county has to offer in biking and active transportation. There are 11 award categories, including education, business, bike parking, and advocacy.
Click here to RSVP.
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 from Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those sections are between Camp Sycamore Road and Glengarry Road, Lakeview Drive and San Lorenzo Avenue, Larkspur Street and Clear Creek/Pacific Street, Clear Creek/Pacific Street and Prospect Avenue, Mitchell Drive and Sylvan Avenue, and Ramona Drive and Stapp Road.
- The southbound Highway 1 off-ramp at Bay Avenue in Capitola is entering the fourth month of a planned four-month closure that began Aug. 2, as crews reconstruct the ramp as part of the bus-on-shoulder facility.
- Roadway excavation is shutting down the southbound Highway 1 on-ramp at Park Avenue in Capitola until Nov. 19.
- Bridge work is shutting down one lane of Highway 9 between Pool Drive and Old County Highway and Riverdale Park and Monaco Lane until April 30, 2027
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