Rally held for supporters and critics of current Coastal Rail Trail project
Dozens of people showed up in front of the Santa Cruz County building on Wednesday.
They rallied for Sections 10 and 11 of the Coastal Rail Trail project to move forward, while others were in favor of the board of supervisors’ decision to not accept any of the three design options.
Sections 10 and 11 stretch about four and a half miles, from 17th Avenue in Live Oak through Capitola, ending at State Park Drive in Seacliff.
“I think it could only be a benefit here, and it's not like they have to break ground; the rail is already here. As I understand it, the property of the rail it's on is publicly owned,” said Carl Seibert, a Santa Cruz County resident.
Past Coverage | Santa Cruz County receives California state grant for Coastal Rail Trail
The group in favor of the rail trail went into the county building, putting up notes on the 5th floor where the board of supervisors’ offices are located.
Both sides feel strongly about this decade-long project.
“It's already over budget because of complexities of construction,” Jack Brown explained, who was in favor of the Board of Supervisors decision. “It's going to displace many low-income mobile home residents along the tracks and then we're going to take out over 800 trees for this project.”
The staff planned to submit an agreement with the California Department of Transportation in June. Now, they are looking for an extension to submit the agreement.
If it’s denied, the grant would go away — squandering the largest grant ever given by the state of California for an active transportation project.
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