Why Stop the Auxiliary Lane Project from State Park Dr. to Freedom Blvd?

This auxiliary lane project is a legacy from a large project conceived in the 20th Century: the doubling of lanes on Highway 1 (adding High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes and an auxiliary lane in each direction).   The HOV Lane Project is not feasible for three reasons:

• It is unrealistic to expect state funding for a major highway expansion project given the increased awareness at the state level that we can’t build our way out of congestion.
• Over $2 billion for demolishing and rebuilding overpasses, purchasing new land for expanded clover leafs, etc., is financially out of reach of our county.
• Our successful lawsuit invalidated the Environmental Impact Report for the project.

However, the elected members of the Regional Transportation Commission are still voting to build auxiliary lanes (exit-only lanes), even though the Environmental Impact Reports to date have estimated insignificant congestion relief resulting from these lanes:

• The EIR for the Soquel Dr. to 41st Ave auxiliary lanes (now under construction) estimates, “the auxiliary lane alternative would slightly worsen traffic operations in the southbound peak commute hour”.
• The EIR for the State Park Dr. to Freedom Blvd. auxiliary lanes Table 2-19 estimates slower traffic in the northbound morning period after the project is built. The EIR estimates that the congestion relief in the southbound afternoon commute will be short-lived.

See this article which discusses Caltrans’ strategy to build auxiliary lanes to try and evade the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Stopping the Aptos Auxiliary Lanes would:

• Align our spending with our climate, safety and social equity goals 

This auxiliary lane project would cost over $180 million (includes new rail bridges over Aptos Creek, Valencia Creek, two pedestrian and bicycle bridges). These funds would be better spent on:

1. Transit improvements, including a real bus-on-shoulder express bus service, instead of the current plan to operate buses in auxiliary lanes. Also: funding existing plans on Soquel Dr. for bus signal prioritization; offboard ticketing; bus boarding platforms and safe crosswalks and protected bike lanes. In the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, transit is allocated 44% of all transportation dollars. In the updated 2045 Regional Transportation Plan, transit is allocated 37% of all transportation dollars. We’re going in the wrong direction.
2. Making our streets safe for bicyclists and pedestrians. California’s Office of Traffic Safety ranks Santa Cruz County 5th worst for rate of serious injuries to pedestrians (out of 58 counties) and 2nd worst for rate of serious injuries to bicyclists.