SANTA CRUZ, Calif — Two counties on California’s central coast have received almost $6 million to advance a pair of rail projects thanks to state funding announced earlier this week.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission was awarded $3.45 million to fund a Project Concept Report for the proposed passenger rail service on the 22-mile, commission-owned Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, while the Transportation Agency for Monterey County will receive $2.27 million for initial work for a new multimodal station in Pajaro, an unincorporated area 1.4 miles from downtown Watsonville.
The funds come from the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit & Intercity Rail Capital Program. The agency awarded a total of $690 million to 28 projects this week.
The funding in Santa Cruz will fully cover the cost of the concept report, which will refine the initial planning for the locally preferred alternative to develop a rail line and trail along the former Southern Pacific branch line. That fully developed plan would then be used for full environmental review, after which the project could seek full funding for construction and operation. Work on the report will begin this year and should be completed in 2025, the transportation commission said in a press release.
The Pajaro-Watsonville station is part of a project that seeks to extend Caltrain commuter service from its current terminus in Gilroy, some 23 miles from Pajaro, to Salinas. The proposed Pajaro station would also be served by Amtrak’s Coast Starlight and bus systems from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, the Monterey Herald reports.
Pre-construction costs for the station are estimated at $19.5 million. The project is 60% designed, and now must secure funding for final design and the estimated $86 million construction cost.
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