RTC affirms support for contested design of Mid-County rail trail, pushing supes to do the same

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) maintained its support for a plan to build two contested sections of the Coastal Rail Trail alongside existing train tracks in a move that transit advocates say will renew pressure on county supervisors to approve the project when it returns for a vote at the end of this month.

The RTC voted 8-2 Thursday to approve a staff recommendation to affirm its support for the “ultimate” trail configuration on Segments 10 and 11 of the Coastal Rail Trail — building the trail alongside the existing train tracks. It also directed staff to seek additional funding, work to reduce and share costs with the rail operator, and consider additional funding needs. Segments 10 and 11 make up a 4.5-mile stretch of trail running between 17th Avenue in Live Oak and State Park Drive in Aptos. 

Commissioners Virginia Johnson and Shane Mckeithen — alternates for County Supervisors Bruce McPherson and Manu Koenig, respectively — were the only two “no” votes during the meeting in the Scotts Valley City Council chambers.

The decision comes less than two weeks before the two segments are back before the county board of supervisors for approval on April 30, after it failed to approve the project in March. That vote deadlocked at 2-2, with McPherson and Koenig voting “no,” citing environmental and budget concerns. Supervisor Zach Friend recused himself.

The board’s failure to approve the two segments greatly concerned rail and trail advocates because of worries that it could lead to the county missing out on $67.6 million in state grants tied to the project — the largest active transportation grant in state history. The grants expire in the summer of 2026. Since construction on the segments is not slated to begin until 2026, many worry that the county could lose that funding if the project is delayed.

Planning staff had hoped the board of supervisors would approve the project segments so they could bring updates to the California Transportation Commission’s (CTC) June meeting as part of the process to allocate the $67.6 million.

Transit advocates said Thursday’s vote gives an extra push for the supervisors to approve the project. “Because these two agencies need to agree on the same thing, this changes the whole dynamic,” Friends of the Rail and Trail board member Barry Scott told Lookout. “Now, if [the board of supervisors] doesn’t move this forward, they’re just saying they want to fight this.”

Commissioner Johnson, McPherson’s alternate, said she would not support the affirmation of the “ultimate” trail configuration because she would rather keep the possibility of the “interim” trail configuration — building the trail on top of the tracks — open to determine costs for both. She said she was not being “obstructional” but, rather, has concerns about the cost of the “ultimate” trail configuration.

“It’s important to know that the ultimate trail is going to cost $303 million more than the interim trail between Segments 8 and 12,” she said, adding that the segments will be even more expensive than they are currently believed to be because of additional construction costs.

Johnson, a former grant writer, added that she is not saying “no” to the ultimate configuration outright, but that she thinks there needs to be a plan that is more financially feasible.

“I have personally been involved with a lot of great projects. They’re aspirational, and aspirational is great. Aspirational is inspirational,” she said. “But if we ignore the financial constraints we have before us today, we are not filling our fiduciary responsibility to the public.”

Commissioner Mckeithen, a Watsonville resident who serves as Koenig’s alternate, raised concerns about not having enough money left for South County segments — a point McPherson brought up in March. He said he thinks South County would be “further disenfranchised” by the staff’s recommendation.

“Not only is this inequitable, but a disservice to cyclists, rollerblade enthusiasts like myself and my wife, South County residents like my mother, who lives with a disability, and would appreciate the opportunity to join me in her wheelchair along the trail,” he said. “South County needs to be prioritized and deserves a more equitable distribution of grant funds.”

Commissioner Sandy Brown, a Santa Cruz city councilmember, said she is “very frustrated” with discussing the same issues and concerns at seemingly every meeting. 

“It is literally Groundhog Day every time this comes up, and every time a commissioner who is opposed to rail has an opportunity, there are machinations to gum up the works,” she said. “Frankly, I’m getting to the point where I just want to ask my colleagues if you oppose this, why not just be honest and make a motion to return that money to the CTC?”

Commissioner Mike Rotkin said that even if staff wanted to and successfully did convince the state to allow the interim trail configuration and railbanking — ripping the tracks up with the possibility of reinstalling them at a future date — it would effectively end the possibility of passenger rail.

“In the end, we would never have a train, and to me, that is not acceptable from the time I came on the commission, and I’m not going to kill this train,” he said. “One hope that I have that would come out of this meeting is that we can end this discussion about the ultimate versus the interim trail.”

Commissioner Andy Schiffrin, alternate for County Supervisor Justin Cummings, said he felt it would be “disingenuous” to vote against the motion on the grounds that South County needs more support, because failing to pass the motion would further delay or prevent moving toward figuring out how to get more grant money.

“It’s delusional and disingenuous to argue, somehow, that the way to get [the trail] is abandoning what is being recommended,” he said. “The interim trail is never going to happen, and it’s never going to be funded by the CTC.”

Commissioners approved a plan to return to the RTC’s June meeting with an analysis of how to ensure that South County segments of the project can receive 2016 Measure D funds. The request for the analysis came from Commissioner Eduardo Montesino, who is also a Watsonville city councilmember.

County Park Planner Rob Tidmore told Lookout that he expects to submit an extension request to the CTC in June, along with the allocation request, should the board of supervisors approve the segments at its April 30 meeting.

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