Quick Take
Greenway founder and rail trail opponent Bud Colligan made incorrect claims in a March op-ed, asserts Matt Farrell, board chair of Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail and Trail. Farrell explains how local taxpayers are expected to pay a small percentage of costs for passenger rail on the 32-mile rail line, thanks to federal and state funding. He also highlights the $1 billion cost for a 7-mile segment of Highway 1 widening. The public needs good information when it comes to the debate about rail and trail, Farrell says.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
I’m hearing a lot of buzz about the estimated $980 million cost for bridge replacements along the publicly owned Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, as well as the proposal to build more of the rail trail in Capitola.
Greenway founder Bud Colligan’s recent op-ed in Lookout suggested the train is dead and included many frightening claims that need attention and correction. Let’s dig into what Colligan had to say.
Colligan: “Several commissioners continually repeat a mantra that a train will reduce traffic on Highway 1.”
This is a straw man, an easy message to attack. Truth is, no one seriously thinks there is a solution to reducing congestion on Highway 1 — not a train, not bus-on-shoulder, not even highway widening. What passenger rail will do is provide a choice – an alternative to sitting in gridlock for commuters.
The reason the gridlock on Highway 1 is nearly hopeless is the phenomenon of “induced travel.” If extra capacity is added, it will fill with more cars. This is why all the widening work on Highway 1 is predicted to eventually improve travel time between Watsonville and Santa Cruz by only one minute.
The availability of rail service will make it possible for people who travel from Watsonville to Santa Cruz to choose between sitting in Highway 1 traffic for 60 to 90 minutes or taking a 40-to-45 minute train ride. It’s about having a choice.
MORE ON THE RAIL AND TRAIL: Lookout news coverage | Community Voices opinion
Colligan: “… that’s $3,636 for every county resident. Also, $1 billion would be enough to resurface and repair the county’s entire road network.”
There’s a lot to unpack here. No county resident is going to pay $3,636 for passenger rail. It will be primarily funded by the federal government, using tax money we each have already paid. The Federal Railroad Administration typically covers 80% of local rail projects. The state typically covers 5%-15%. This means local residents can expect approximately a 9-to-1 return on every dollar we invest in local passenger rail — a phenomenal return on investment.
The current Regional Transportation Plan estimates highway widening from Soquel Avenue to Freedom Boulevard will cost approximately $1 billion. That’s an estimate for about 7 miles. The final cost will surely be more. This casts serious doubt on the assertion that the same amount of money would cover every county road.
Consider the longevity of the project. Road resurfacing lasts about 20 years. Rail bridges last 100 to 150 years. The rail project is an expensive project because it is a multigenerational project. It is a project designed to serve future county residents for five generations. It is not a short-term repair project.
The question of funding also brings us to the issue of the trail part of the “rail and trail.” Oddly, rail transit opponents keep saying “build the trail now,” as if they are unable to comprehend the trail is being built now. Every section of the trail — from Watsonville to Davenport — is either built and in use, under construction, or in some phase of design and planning.
The foot-stomping by opponents is decidedly out of step with the reality of steady progress being made by the staff at the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), the county and local cities. They have been doing such an excellent job cooperating and designing the trail system that it has attracted record-setting grants from both the state and federal governments to pay for most of it.
These wins add to the mounting evidence that local taxpayers are not on the hook for the full cost of the project, and that the local matching funding provided by Measure D (passed by county voters in 2016) represents an excellent return on investment for our local dollars.
Despite the strong progress being made, rail and trail opponents are trying to stop trail construction in Capitola, and this could have catastrophic effects on funding and progress on miles of trail currently being planned. If the City of Capitola listens to these naysayers and none of the rail trail is built in Capitola, our entire Santa Cruz County community risks loss of the $67.6 million state Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant that was awarded to our county to build the trail from 17th Avenue in Live Oak to Aptos.
Not only that, our region might no longer be seen as a serious competitor for future state and federal grants for other transportation projects, devastating our ability to continue to get a great return on our local Measure D-funded investments.
Yes, $1 billion is a lot of money, but it is not an unusual amount in the world of infrastructure construction, and we as local taxpayers will not be paying for the vast majority of it. A relatively small local investment will be required for this visionary multigenerational project, compared to the return we will get from state and federal funders, as long as we do not destroy our regional reputation by stopping trail construction.
Matt Farrell serves as chair of the Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail and Trail. He has lived in Santa Cruz since 1976.