Santa Cruz County Transit and Transportation Agency Meetings - Audio Tracks

(Summary from the RTC's Highlights)

The Commission approved entering into an agreement with Redwood Public Law, LLP

(Redwood) for general counsel services by Steve Mattas and his team of transportation

agency attorneys. Mr. Mattas and his team have provided general and special counsel

services to the RTC since August 1, 2019. Mr. Mattas and his team are departing their

previous firm, Meyers Nave, PLC, and joining Redwood. The new agreement will allow Mr.

Mattas and his team to continue to provide the general and special counsel services they

currently provide to the RTC. The Commission also approved a one-year extension of the

Meyers Nave agreement so that the current litigation and labor relations services provided

by Meyers Nave attorneys will continue to be provided through the end of current matters

(Summary from the RTC's Highlights)

The Commission received an update on the ongoing construction along Highway 1. Major

construction activities will begin this month on the Highway 1 State Park to Bay/Porter

Auxiliary Lanes and Bus-on-Shoulder Project that includes a new bicycle and pedestrian

overcrossing at Mar Vista Drive and the replacement of the Capitola Avenue overcrossing at

Highway 1. As the project gets underway, the long-term closure of the Capitola Avenue

overcrossing is necessary in order to demolish the existing structure and build the new one.

The Capitola Avenue overcrossing will close to vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic

beginning on Monday, March 11 at 9:00 a.m., for approximately 14 months. In order to

demolish the structure, a 24-hour full closure of Highway 1 between the Bay/Porter and Park

interchanges is necessary. This closure is planned to begin on Saturday, March 23 at 7:00

p.m. and end on Sunday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. Staff has prepared a public outreach plan for

both the long-term Capitola Avenue closure and the 24-hour highway closure that includes

robust regional and interregional communications

(Summary from the RTC's Highlights)

The Commission received an informational update on the community’s preference between

two single-span bridge types for the Coastal Rail Trail Segment 12 bicycle and pedestrian

bridge over Aptos Creek and Soquel Drive. The project originally proposed a three-span

simple prefabricated bridge. However, the project development team encountered

challenges with utilities conflicting with the location of the bridge columns and

recommended a single span, 300-foot- long bridge. Two single-span bridge options were

considered. The Tied Arch Bridge would be supported by two 300-foot-long curved arches

with the deck supported below. Its 50-foot-tall arch makes a striking visual statement and

would be visible from adjacent public and private properties. The Stress Ribbon Bridge

would be supported by suspension cables within the concrete deck. Its low profile and

minimalist design would offer a harmonious blend with the environment and would be less

of a visual statement than the Tied Arch type. In January 2024, the RTC released a short

video and online survey to solicit input on the community’s bridge preference. The online

survey had 889 respondents and the results were in favor of the Tied Arch bridge type. The

Project Development Team is moving forward with the Tied Arch Bridge

Commisioner questions and comments on the Glydways Presentation.

(Summary from the RTC's Highlights)

The Commission heard a presentation from Representatives of Glydways, an electric

autonomous pod car venture, to learn about their transportation technology. Glydways is

developing a transportation system that would use electric autonomous pod cars to

transport people. The company is part of a team of consultants who secured a contract with

the City of San Jose to provide transportation between the San Jose Downtown Diridon

station and the San Jose Airport. Glydways representatives said the pod cars move in

dedicated guideways, carrying up to four passengers directly to their destination with no

stops. According to the Glydways representatives, a pod car system can move up to 10,000

passengers per hour, have much lower capital expenditure costs than traditional mass

transit systems, and have significantly lower operating expenses for each passenger mile

traveled.

Informational presentation on storm damage in the area (not much), the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) (see link below), some large Safe Streets fro All grants upcoming, and progress on a stalled Rail Trail project in north county. It is now out for bid.

https://calsta.ca.gov/subject-areas/climate-action-plan

Discussions of road works in the area and road closures.

INTERIM CEO/GM ORAL REPORT

Daniel Zaragoza, Interim CEO/General Manager

The meeting agenda is here:

https://scmtd.com/images/department/board/archive/agendas/2024/2024.02.23-BOD-Agenda.pdf

The CommunityTV.org video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM79wlvqtdk&list=PLo9N9AsVOVvT_Ae6YrLvf_pJKSTzuuMqX

PRESENTATION ON REIMAGINE METRO PHASE II P2 - Questions and Comments

John Urgo, Planning and Development Director

Video is here: https://youtu.be/R0O5P7ffDPg

The meeting agenda is here:

https://scmtd.com/images/department/board/archive/agendas/2024/2024.02.23-BOD-Agenda.pdf

The CommunityTV.org video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM79wlvqtdk&list=PLo9N9AsVOVvT_Ae6YrLvf_pJKSTzuuMqX

PRESENTATION ON REIMAGINE METRO PHASE II

John Urgo, Planning and Development Director and Daniel from Jarrett Walker and Associates.

A fairly weedy discussion of Metro's upcoming service changes.

The YouTube video has the images and maps discussed in the presentation.

https://youtu.be/nbHXBYXkTnA

The meeting agenda is here:

https://scmtd.com/images/department/board/archive/agendas/2024/2024.02.23-BOD-Agenda.pdf

The CommunityTV.org video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM79wlvqtdk&list=PLo9N9AsVOVvT_Ae6YrLvf_pJKSTzuuMqX