Ground broken for rail trail in Santa Cruz County

A milestone for the rail trail in Santa Cruz County today as officials broke ground on one of the segments.

They say this has been a long time coming after years of heated debates and working to get funding.

The segment that is now officially under construction is between the Seabirght area and the Boardwalk on the San Lorenzo Trestle Bridge.

There is already a walkway in place, but it is being expanded by about 6 feet.

Something bikers and pedestrians say will make a huge differnce in their commute, “I cannot tell you how many times I have gone over this bridge trestle, squeezed up against the side and the fact that it is going to go from 4 feet to eight or 10 feet, this is going to change my life every day,” says Karen K. who has lived in Santa Cruz for more than 20 years.

Other bikers say if you do not take the trestle there is no real safe way to get to the other side. Rick Ward says, “it’s kind of sketchy, right up here at the roundabout there is no sidewalk, so you have to be in the lane with the cars.”

The executive director of Bike Santa Cruz County, Janneke Strause says with ridership going up, they are constantly looking for ways to make the roads safer for everyone. She says the area between Seabright and the Boardwalk is tricky to navigate, “There is a retaining wall there so you have no where to go. That is not the most comfortable way to ride, it’s necessary in order to be visible, but having a facility where you can avoid that completely would be huge.”

The Executive Director of Greenway Manu Koenig was also in attendance. Greenway is an organization that has largely voice their opposition to the rail part of the Rail trail.

Koenig says while he is happy about the trail portion being built, he still has concerns about the trains looming in the future, “the current plan calls for a train, that takes up a lot of space, and it basically puts bikes and pedestrians in harms way.”

He adds he thinks everyone can come to an agreement, “there’s still plenty of time for our community to come together and solve this problem, we are going to have to do this sooner or later, but there is work still to be done.”

Former Congressmember Sam Farr, who began fundraising for the rail trail nearly 40 years ago, says he’s excited to start this process, but it’s just the beginning.

He also says once it is complete, “it will open up all kinds of opportunities for small businesses, interpretation and big family outings. I think it will give the Tourists the ability to get out of their cars and really appreciate the totality of this bay.”

The San Lorenzo Trestle Bridge part is expected to be done by Memorial Day Weekend.

There is no set time line for the rest of the rail trail.