Faced with a $72 million shortfall for some sections of the Coastal Rail Trail, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission on Thursday resurrected a plan to remove railroad tracks despite voters rejecting the idea in 2022.
Coastal Rail Trail
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: Upping the urgency around battery storage policy in Santa Cruz County
Around Santa Cruz County politics & policy with Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The SMART way: What Sonoma/Marin’s experience with passenger rail means for Santa Cruz County
Wallace Baine took a trip to the North Bay, to experience the train ride, to get a sense of its possibilities and problems, and to anticipate what lessons the SMART train system can provide for potential rail passengers in Santa Cruz County.
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RTC’s $4.3B passenger rail vision gets first public hearing; next hurdle comes in December
Familiar concerns surrounding costs and feasibility of proposed passenger rail were the focus of Thursday’s Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission meeting, the first public hearing on the agency’s draft concept report for the project.
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Santa Cruz to open idle rail line to pedestrians, cyclists during Murray Street Bridge closure
Santa Cruz transportation officials agreed Thursday to explore using an existing railroad bridge next to the Murray Street Bridge as a temporary path for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the harbor during the extended bridge closure, though some fear the move could derail plans to use the tracks for a future passenger train.
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In the Public Interest: Mobile home park residents lower their armor in rail trail fight, for now
Inside Santa Cruz County politics & policy with Lookout correspondent Christopher Neely.
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As land dispute intensifies, mobile home park residents prepare for standoff against RTC next week
Castle Mobile Estates residents say they plan to block surveyors from entering their property amid a heated land dispute with the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, escalating tensions over the county’s Coastal Rail Trail encroachments.
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Carmageddon: Rail project set for key month, with full project report, public meetings expected ahead of August RTC vote
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is gearing up to release its draft project concept report for the ambitious passenger rail project, and will be holding an information session and office hours over the next few weeks.
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RTC’s rail trail deadline arrives, but mobile home parks haven’t moved, likely spurring at least one lawsuit
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s June 30 deadline for removing encroachments on future trail land is here. While the owners and residents of one Live Oak mobile home park are discussing alternatives, those from the other park will likely face legal action.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The $4 billion rail project: Glory train? Or trip to nowhere?
Santa Cruz County’s hotly debated proposed rail service, ZEPRT, could cost billions of dollars and take a couple of decades to complete. Is it up to the task of transforming the county’s transit system?
