Quick Take
The Santa Cruz City Council voted Tuesday to scrap plans for a temporary bicycle and pedestrian path over the rail line next to Murray Street Bridge, with councilmembers pointing to too many legal and engineering obstacles, along with a lack of available funding. The Murray Street Bridge is scheduled to be closed entirely until February and is expected to be under construction through early 2028.
The Santa Cruz City Council scrapped plans Tuesday to build a temporary bicycle and pedestrian path over the rail bridge next to the Murray Street Bridge during its full closure because of numerous roadblocks, including the rail line’s freight operator, Progressive Rail, opposing the plan, as well as safety and funding concerns.
Councilmember Sonja Brunner, who offered the motion to toss the temporary bridge plan, said that opening up the rail bridge to bikes and pedestrians is too much of a liability risk. Nathan Nguyen, the city’s director of public works, said that the structural report for the bridge by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) deemed it “seismically deficient,” meaning it’s possible it would not withstand an earthquake.
MURRAY STREET BRIDGE RETROFIT: Read more Lookout coverage here
“This clearly is not an option in the best interest of the community at large,” said Brunner, adding the city would shoulder the burden of liability. “That’s something that I don’t think should even be a discussion.”
City attorney Tony Condotti added that by putting a project together quickly, it likely would not comply with all of the city’s objective engineering standards, which is a major reason the city cannot find an insurer for the project. Any significant injury or accident on the path could be extremely costly to the city: “From a legal perspective, it’s a very concerning situation.”
The city council originally voted in August to pursue the alternative path on a part of the rail line that crosses the harbor. Since then, multiple issues have come up, including a failed attempts to secure funding through an RTC grant in September. The city has been in contact with state Sen. John Laird, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin and U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta’s offices about the project, but did not formally request funding. The city also unsuccessfully sought an insurance policy for the path. On Oct. 27, Progressive Rail sent a letter to the city opposing the plan, according to a staff report.
Mayor Fred Keeley called out Progressive Rail from the dais, and said that the company has been “horrible” to work with during his time on the RTC.
“Them withholding their approval of this is, in my estimation, nothing short of simply mean-spiritedness. I think if we had a rail operator that was based in California, anywhere in California, they may have more sympathy,” he said. “These people are based in Minnesota. They have no interest in this, and they made a very bad business decision.”
There are still about 10 weeks left until the eastbound lane of the Murray Street Bridge is scheduled to reopen, allowing one-way vehicle travel and two-way pedestrian access. That will be followed by a second full closure expected to start in mid-2026 and last three months.
Nguyen said city staff is going to continue studying the possibility of allowing two-way alternating traffic along the eastbound lane when the bridge is not fully closed, and the traffic delays that may come with implementing it.
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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated with clarification from the city of Santa Cruz regarding contact with legislators’ offices.
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