Watsonville briefs RTC on street, trail and bridge projects; city cites multiple grants including $320,000 SS4A planning award and CARB sub‑application
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Summary
City of Watsonville staff presented a 2024 project roundup and 2025 pipeline to the RTC on Feb. 6, listing roadway repaving, a new traffic signal, pedestrian and school safety programs, a Harkins Slough pedestrian bridge project and multiple grants the city has secured or pursued.
Marie Fontes, assistant public works director for the city of Watsonville, reviewed transportation projects the city completed in 2024 and its near‑term priorities on Feb. 6.
Fontes said the city completed a 1.2‑mile road maintenance and restriping project on Ohlone Parkway, restriped Freedom Boulevard segments, and took advantage of water‑main replacement resurfacing to repair sections of Pennsylvania Drive. The city installed a new traffic signal at Freedom Boulevard and Sydney Avenue, funded in part by State Transportation Improvement Program funds allocated through the RTC plus gas tax and SB 1 funds.
On active transportation and safety, Fontes told the commission Watsonville installed or upgraded 108 crosswalks and implemented bicycle and pedestrian safety training programs in nearly every public elementary school. She said the city secured a $320,000 Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) planning grant to prepare an active transportation plan, and that the city was a sub‑applicant on a California Air Resources Board application totaling $7,200,000 for multiple South County projects including ebikes, an electric street sweeper sized for bike lanes, trail maintenance and a sidewalk on Freedom Boulevard.
Fontes described several regionally significant projects: a Harkins Slough pedestrian and bicycle bridge across Highway 1 (the city plans to request an allocation of a portion of an $11,700,000 state Active Transportation Program grant at the California Transportation Commission in March), the Lee Road Trail connection funded in part by an appropriation from Senator Jimmy Panetta and resources from the California Natural Resources Agency via the Santa Cruz County Land Trust, and coordination on the city’s downtown transit center redevelopment with Santa Cruz Metro.
Fontes also noted the city is participating in the RTC’s 0‑emission passenger rail and trail study and that the project team is considering multiple alignments within Watsonville, including possible use of Beach Street to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to the beach.
Public comment during the Watsonville presentation underscored local support for trail connections and school access: Aurelio Gonzalez and other commenters urged rapid progress on the Lee Road connection to Pajaro Valley High School and welcomed the Harkins Slough bridge as long overdue for student safety.
Why it matters: the presentation lists locally managed construction and federally/state funded planning grants that together shape project timetables and the city’s ability to complete key pedestrian, bicycle and roadway improvements.
What the city will do next: Fontes said the ATP allocation request to CTC is scheduled for March and that several projects are in design, including Freedom Boulevard sidewalk work tied to the CARB sub‑application. The city also has a six‑year pavement management plan to guide future prioritization.