Council hears plan to rehabilitate 40 First Avenue, add separated bikeway and new wayfinding for Highway 1

Capitola City Council received a presentation April 24 on a $1 million-plus rehabilitation and multimodal safety upgrade for 40 First Avenue from Clare Street north to the city boundary, including pavement recycling, bicycle buffers with delineators and new lane‑selection signage to clarify access to State Route 1.

The project team — city staff and traffic consultant Chris Brackhaus of Kimley‑Horn & Associates — described an approach that would use partial‑depth recycling to reuse existing pavement, install refreshed striping and targeted green bike pavement, and place physical delineators where Caltrans permits to separate cyclists from general‑purpose traffic through the SR‑1 interchange. Jessica (city staff) said the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) awarded a grant that helped move the project into design; roughly $700,000 in RTC construction funds remain and the city expects to use SB 1 and Measure D funds to cover the balance.

Why it matters: the corridor shows extensive pavement distress and recurring…