Coastal trail progresses on the Central Coast

The Santa Cruz County portion of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail are in the planning and engineering stages. Connecting the coastal trail from Monterey County to Santa Cruz County is going to take years, to say the least. But the planning and the funding that’s taking place in Santa Cruz County, right now, could have the first two legs of the trail completed in 3 to 4 years.

Enjoying the view of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary on a bicycle is becoming more popular. Jason Orona of Salinas loves to bike on the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, as it’s known in Monterey County.

“I heard on the news a while back that they might extend the Monterey trail from Marina to Santa Cruz to the north end of the bay. I was wondering if that’s still in the plan or not?” Asked Jason.

You’ll be happy to know that it is very much in the planning stages for both counties.

In Monterey County, the coastal trail begins in Pacific Grove and runs 29 miles to Castroville. The Castroville to Moss Landing and Moss Landing to Watsonville legs are several years away. There is activity at Monterey County for a section of the coastal trail in Moss Landing, but getting over the Elkhorn Slough will take several years to complete according to acting Assistant Public Works Director Enrique Saavadra.

Cory Caletti, Senior Planner with the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission says the plan for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, as it’s known in Santa Cruz County, has been in the works for 10 years. The SCCRTC has almost 25 percent of the 32 miles from Watsonville to Davenport funded. That’s the first two to three legs of the trail in Santa Cruz County.

“This is a legendary project, it’s a bicycle and pedestrian trail that will span the entire county and will connect to Monterey County eventually,” says Caletti, “The trail will be coming incrementally as we get funding, we just allocated over $5 million to two projects that are moving ahead right now.”

The Santa Cruz County portion of the trail will be broader in scope says Caletti, “We’ve been in the planning stages for about 5 years, the project begin probably more than 10 years and it morphed over time and focused entirely on coastal access to a project that is broader in scope that looks at coastal connectivity to a rail trail spine of a broader network.”

I came across Jean Feng riding in Castroville last week with her friend Mark Razzi. Feng says they were on their way to Santa Barbara and loves to see the scenic beauty by bicycle, “I think it’s a great way to see a lot of things. I think it’s the best way to tour a place.”

Especially the gorgeous Central Coast.

The Santa Cruz portion of the trail will cost about $80 million to construct. Those funds will come from grants and public-private partnerships.

Have a question? DearJon@KIONRightNow.com