WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville is installing green bike lanes on five heavily-trafficked streets throughout the city.
City officials celebrated the start of the project with a ribbon-cutting on Tuesday at the corner of Bridge Street and Hushbeck Avenue. That installment will stretch from the intersection of Beck and Bridge streets to the end of Bridge Street at East Lake Avenue.
Other installments include:
- Beach Street from Lee Road to Rodriguez Street
- Green Valley Road from Harkins Slough to Corralitos Creek Bridge
- Harkins Slough Road/Walker Street from Green Valley Road to Riverside Drive
- Rodriguez Street from Main Street to Riverside Drive
Those bike lanes are expected to be completed in roughly three weeks, according to city officials.
The project, approved by the City Council during a July 9 meeting, will improve existing bicycle lanes by installing new striping, markings and signage and installing green buffer lanes.
Watsonville Public Works & Utilities Assistant Director Maria Esther Rodriguez said the project falls in line with the City’s ongoing efforts to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety through campaigns like Vision Zero, a multi-national traffic safety plan aiming to achieve a road system with no fatalities or serious injuries by 2030.
“It’s a very exciting project,” Rodriguez said. “I think we’ve made a commitment to try to make our streets safer for everyone and these green bike lanes take it up a notch safety-wise.”
The total cost of the project was $654,866.10. A Bicycle Safety Improvement grant from the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission covered $325,000. The City used $125,000 of its Gas Tax funds and $204,866.10 from Measure D funds to cover the rest.
