Santa Cruz working to improve the city’s corridors

Santa Cruz deals with heavy traffic and lots of bikes sharing the roads with cars. But now it’s trying to do something about it through a series of workshops.

Soquel Ave., Water St., Ocean St. and Mission St. are the four main corridors of the city that are going to look a lot different one day, according to the Department of Planning and Community Development.

“We see the corridors as sort of the future of Santa Cruz, and a sustainable model for development,” Michelle King said, with the Santa Cruz Dept. of Planning & Community Development.

The city’s general plan calls for more mixed-use development and more biking and pedestrian infrastructure along those corridors. It’s a big vision, one that will require changes to the city’s zoning codes. The city wants the public to weigh in.

“We’re trying to give people as many options as possible so they can choose how they want to travel, to live, to work, and to play,” Claire Fliesler said with the Santa Cruz Dept. of Planning & Community Development.

Matthew Thompson has lived in Santa Cruz for the past 40 years. He said he’s ready for more shopping and housing along the corridors, but wonders if the rest of the city is onboard for change.

“Can we decide amongst ourselves that this is ok… can we invite into the city, that’s an open question in Santa Cruz. It will be interesting to see how this turns out,” Thompson said.

Thompson said more biking infrastructure would be a game changer since so many residents rely on their bikes for travel. City staff said a number of people have already asked if these green bike lanes like the one on Laurel could be added to the corridors.

Currently there’s just the typical white signage along all four corridors. That aspect is one of many things Thompson thinks should be improved.

“We just kind of need to catch up because like green lanes, there are a lot of things we can do to make it safer to be a bicycle rider. And then if we could just flatten out Santa Cruz, it would help too,” Thompson said.