SANTA CRUZ >> The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has planned a pair of public informational sessions to share updates and answer questions about a number of projects happening along the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line.

Staff from the local transportation agency will start the week by zooming in on the city of Capitola with a town hall set to run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday inside New Brighton Middle School’s Performing Arts Center at 250 Washburn Ave., Capitola.The city is home to a number of commission-led transportation projects that have drawn much interest and scrutiny from the public, and staff members will be prepared to discuss them all. These include Coastal Rail Trail segments 10 and 11, the Capitola Trestle, the Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project and mobile home encroachments along the rail corridor.

The Capitola City Council received a presentation about segments 10 and 11 of the rail trail, which run from 17th Avenue to State Park Drive, at a meeting in February. It was asked to voice a preference for exactly which route the multi-use trail should take but, after an outcry from the attending public in response to the alignment that had been recommended by city and commission planners, the council punted the decision and asked the agency to host a public engagement forum, which was announced last week.

However, once that meeting has wrapped up, the commission’s work will be far from finished.

The agency and its workers will host another public meeting — this one virtual — detailing the bridge infrastructure along the rail line in the context of the Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project. The meeting, happening from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. March 12, will include a presentation on rail bridges which may be slated for repair, rehabilitation or replacement.

The meeting will be hosted on Zoom at hdrinc.zoom.us/j/99161913341, but members of the public can also tune in from the commission’s downtown office at 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz.

The project proposes new passenger rail service and stations along 22 miles of the rail line and 12 miles of the rail trail within segments 13 to 20, in addition to phase 2 of segment 11 that includes the Capitola Trestle.

Passenger rail study

News of the community meetings also come as the commission’s top staff member, Executive Director Sarah Christensen, announced the much-anticipated passenger rail project concept report would be delayed.

The report — which will provide key planning, engineering, environmental and financial information — was originally estimated to be ready by spring. But Christensen said Friday in a public newsletter release that the report won’t be done until fall.

“In response to community and stakeholder input received during Milestone 3 late last year, it became apparent that additional engineering and community engagement work is needed in order to gain feedback on some of the complex constraints associated with the project’s conceptual alignment,” Christensen wrote. “It is crucial to the development of the project concept that the station and alignment options are fully evaluated, because these features affect travel times, ridership forecasts, and project costs.”

Christensen added that the funding outlook for the project has also changed since the commission ordered the report in 2022, referencing implementation of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in 2021, and California’s State Rail Plan, adopted in January. Moreover, she wrote, the most likely future funding source for the remaining environmental work is the federal Corridor Identification Program, but if the commission ends up being awarded grants from that program, the funds won’t be available until 2027.

The passenger rail project website is at sccrtc.org/zeprt.