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Santa Cruz adopts 2026 Active Transportation Plan amid neighborhood concern over Bay Street design
Summary
The City Council adopted a 10‑year Active Transportation Plan that maps 42 miles of new or upgraded bike facilities and roughly $78 million in projects, while neighbors urged changes to proposed Bay Street and Olive Street circulation plans; staff said design decisions will return to commissions for public review.
The Santa Cruz City Council on Wednesday adopted a 2026 Active Transportation Plan (ATP), a 10‑year roadmap that staff said will guide roughly $78 million in bicycle, sidewalk and program investments aimed at making walking, biking and rolling safer and lower stress across the city.
The plan, presented by Claire Gallogly, principal transportation planner, includes about 42 miles of new or upgraded bike facilities, more than seven miles of priority sidewalks and a suite of policies ranging from sidewalk‑upon‑sale requirements to e‑bike education in schools. Gallogly told the council the plan is a planning‑level document intended to improve the city’s chances of winning grants and to provide a framework for project design and prioritization.
“Everything that we have in here follows four main goals: enhancing safety and security, building and maintaining our networks, continuing progress, and focusing on education and encouragement,” Gallogly said.
The presentation prompted detailed public comment from residents of the Bay/Olive/Anita neighborhood and other local cyclists. Dozens of commenters urged the council to slow down on design decisions affecting Bay Street and to avoid shifting vehicle traffic into adjacent residential streets. Kelly Porter, who lives on Olive Street, said neighbors learned about the draft configurations only recently and worried that reversing Olive from one‑way to two‑way traffic or routing an eight‑foot, bi‑directional bike lane on the west side of Bay Street would increase cut‑through traffic and endanger seniors and children.
"Moving that traffic into the neighborhoods feels like it will make it more dangerous in an area that is less dangerous today," Porter said.
Drew Moore, speaking for about 50 neighbors, warned that proposed closures or turn restrictions at Anita and Toledo could leave some residents with single access routes and complicate emergency response. Several neighbors asked the council to require additional accessibility work at intersections before changing circulation patterns.
Staff and council members repeatedly emphasized that adoption of the ATP does not itself implement street‑level designs. Gallogly and Vice Mayor Shebreh Kalantari‑Johnson said project development and detailed design will return to the Transportation and Public Works Commission and to council for review and public hearings. "That will not happen with this item today," Gallogly told neighbors, noting Bay Corridor design work is already in a separate project development track and is at 60 percent design.
Vice Mayor Kalantari‑Johnson, who moved the staff recommendation, said the plan is intended to benefit "people of all ages and abilities," and to offer a framework that local residents can shape as project design advances.
Council voted to adopt the plan and a CEQA statutory exemption. The vote was unanimous.
What comes next: the ATP sets priorities and a funding strategy; specific projects (including the Bay Corridor detailed designs, sidewalk projects and rail‑trail crossings) will come back for iterative design reviews, commission input and separate environmental and permitting processes.
