Freedom of mobility
Issue
To the extent that government assumes authority for building infrastructure, Santa Cruz County politicians have openly worked toward limiting transportation infrastructure to support what they call a "smart-growth" political agenda. "Smart growth" policies have openly and successfully resisted infrastructure improvements, resulting in a transportation infrastructure that is inadequate for meeting the needs of Santa Cruz County residents and insufficient for supporting a growing local economy. Santa Cruz County residents find their freedom of mobility increasingly restricted due to the following:
- The highway and road system cannot support modern traffic flow, resulting in almost continuous gridlock from Santa Cruz City through Aptos.
- A county bus system is citizen-subsidized with road taxes because it remains relatively unused by Santa Cruz County residents. A county bus system may also be an inadequate alternative transportation solution due to the rural topology of Santa Cruz County and the transportation choice of its residents.
- There are inadequate facilities for safely supporting basic transportation modes like pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
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Consequences
Santa Cruz county citizens deal daily with a government-engineered transportation crisis that is harmful to the economy and the environment, that endangers residents, and that reduces quality of life.
Some who engineered the transportation crisis are today positioning themselves as those who can solve it -- while continuing to obstruct infrastructure improvements necessary for societal progress.
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Position
To the extent government assumes authority for building infrastructure, it should provide adequate transportation infrastructure to accommodate the transportation choice of its citizens and to support a growing economy.
We support the following changes in Santa Cruz County transportation infrastructure:
- Widen Highway 1 from Santa Cruz through Aptos
- Update the Fish Hook to accommodate modern traffic patterns
- Commercialize the bus system; use road taxes to improve the transportation infrastructure, not to subsidize an impractical bus system
- Improve alternative commute roads to accommodate freeway overflow traffic during peak hours, for example:
- Passing lanes on Old San Jose Road to Summit Road
- Retrofit Buzzard Lagoon Road from Corralitos to Summit Road
- Improve traffic flow on Soquel Drive and other frontage roads
- Build the following to improve traffic flow in high demand areas:
- UCSC eastern access road
- Broadway/Brommer connection through Arana Gulch
- Adequate sidewalk system for pedestrians
- Infrastructure support for family-safe modes of basic transportation
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Objectives
- Promote improved transportation infrastructure that supports a growing economy, clean and safe transportation, and freedom of mobility
- Create opportunities that allow a county-wide public vote on infrastructure issues that affect the community at large
- Educate citizens about the cause of today's transportation problems
- Invite public discourse on practical, safe, and clean solutions that provide adequate infrastructure for supporting freedom of movement for Santa Cruz County citizens
- Change voting patterns in Santa Cruz County to elect officials who are subject to the rule and will of the voters of Santa Cruz County
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