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Aptos Life - March 2013 - A3
Slow and steady progress on traffic concerns By ZACH FRIEND
Santa Cruz County Supervisor
It is impossible to live in the 2nd District and not struggle with our foe: traffic. Next to potholes, our office receives a number of questions, complaints and concerns about traffic. Given that there are some potential development projects on the horizon (Aptos Village, Rancho Del Mar), and Highway 1 seems more impassible every day, what is being done to ensure we don’t spend our days (and nights) in traffic? Highway 1
When will Highway 1 be widened all the way into Aptos? This is a common question and it isn’t one with an easy answer. First, it is good to understand how it would be funded and one of the key funding mechanisms for the widening project comes from the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC). This commission consists of mostly of elected officials (including each member of the Board of Supervisors) and deals with dispersing very limited state (and sometimes local/federal) funding for regional transportation projects. This includes everything from road improvements to bike and pedestrian improvements to Highway 1 flow. As you can imagine, transportation funding can be highly politicized. Especially with a shrinking pot there can be strong disagreements over what to use the funding for. I am a strong supporter of using the funding for projects that have the greatest impact, which I believe includes highway widening, road repairs and high yield bike/ ped improvements such as the Mar Vista pedestrian bridge. Within this backdrop, it is safe to say that the political makeup of the RTC has an impact on the speed of highway widening into our district. Second, the pure cost of highway improvements (coupled with a significant decrease in funding for transportation projects) also slows down the time horizon. Lastly, the physical complexity (namely the train crossings over the highway in Aptos) add cost and additional
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formatting for the popular series — there are books on Monterey, Alcatraz Island and Santa Cruz — will feature many photographs highlighting milestones in the town’s history, from its earliest days in the 19th century to the modern time and encompassing events like the founding of Cabrillo College. “We were put in this unique situation where Aptos’ earliest days were captured on film,” said Newhouse, explaining that the development of photography as an archival medium coincided with the development of the town. Newhouse admitted it was difficult staying focused at times and had to remind himself he was writing a book and not just learning for fun. “It was awesome — I’d spend hours and hours at the museum after work and on the weekends,” said Newhouse, who spends his daytime hours working in finance. “I just love this subject matter so much I’d start reading for enjoyment and have to remind myself I’m writing for a book.” ••• “Aptos,” as part of the Images of America series by Arcadia Publishing is coming out June 24 and will be available for purchase directly from the Aptos History Museum and local booksellers. For information about the Aptos History Museum go to www.aptoshistory.org.
agencies into the discussion. Highway improvement projects are planned multiple years in advance and funding generally takes multiple years to materialize. However, improvements are being supported by the RTC that will have an impact in our district. The current Highway 1 auxiliary lane improvements will improve flow from the fishhook to Soquel. Additional auxiliary lane work is expected to be done between Soquel and 41st Avenue in the next few years. While this may seem to be “pushing the bottleneck” it actually reduces the length of the bottleneck therefore improving flow. These improvements, once complete, should reduce the distance of backups in our district. The more that auxiliary work can be done the better traffic flow will be on Highway 1. As future funding becomes available I will continue to advocate for highway improvements into our district.
trian improvements, including sidewalks that will be American with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible, will be created as part of this funding. Currently, there are some less than safe conditions for pedestrians to walk and cross in the Aptos Village and this funding will help make it a more walkable (and hence less car dependent) area. Overall, improvements are being made but at a much slower pace than the need. As the highway improvements are completed to 41st Avenue the bottleneck distance
should decrease, and as new Aptos Village road improvements come online the persistent traffic should improve. While these projects are in the pipeline they will still take some time to complete. As always, if you have any questions, thoughts or concerns about these projects please call our office at 454-2200. And if transportation projects, and traffic reductions, are important to you please advocate along with me for RTC funding to continue to improve conditions in our district.
Roads and Construction Projects
Given the possibility of two construction projects in a relatively short distance (Aptos Village and Rancho Del Mar) what is being done to ensure traffic improves? Many residents have expressed concerns about increased traffic pressures as a result of these proposed developments. As it stands, traffic is already heavily impacted in the Village area during rush hour or school drop off/pick-up times. As part of the recent RTC funding allocations I voted to bring $690,000 toward traffic and pedestrian safety improvements to the Aptos Village area. This will include the addition of traffic signals and the synchronization of these signals from the Village through Rancho Del Mar so someone at Trout Gulch will be able to travel to State Park on synchronized lights. County traffic engineers believe this should improve traffic flow. In addition, as part of the proposed developments, traffic impacts studies (including mitigations) need to be completed. Since the area is locked in by two trestles it is important that any additional development not adversely impact traffic flow. Pedes-
Local businesses showcased CAPITOLA — Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries greet the public last month inside the Capitola Mall at the annual Greatest Showcase on Earth, sponsored by the Capitola Soquel and Aptos chambers of commerce. More than 130 exhibits, including law agencies, schools, banks, restaurants and wineries took part in the one-day event that is designed to bring the community and local businesses and organizations together. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Aptos Life
(831) 688-6807
Births At Dominican Hospital: MOORE February 16 at 9:57 p.m. to Jessica Marie and Derek William Moore of Aptos, a 7-pound, 6-ounce boy, Mateo Kainoa William. SAXTON February 20 at 2:40 p.m. to Rochelle Leigh and Kevin Wayne Saxton of Aptos, an 8-pound boy, Harrison Thomas.
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In the December issue of Aptos Life, in an article about Outside-In, the owner’s name was misspelled. The owner is Jerri Hammond.
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