WATSONVILLE >> The Watsonville Planning Commission unanimously approved staff’s recommendation for the City Council to adopt the Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan, a document aimed at making improvements to the downtown at its Tuesday meeting.

The plan will now go before the council at a future meeting.

Principal Planner Justin Meek provided an overview of the plan, which comprises approximately 195 acres of downtown Watsonville.

“This area is part of the oldest part of Watsonville,” he said. “It represents the historic fabric of the community.”

The plan is mostly centered around Main Street and extends west to the edge of Hyde Street and Western Drive and a portion of Freedom Boulevard, south to a portion of Walker Street and east toward Front Street.

The plan will be divided into nine chapters: an introduction; the goals, policy direction and vision for downtown; design framework, mobility and transportation, public realm improvements, land use and zoning, historic preservation and implementation. The objectives, according to Meek, are to create “an active, vibrant 18-hour downtown,” foster mixed-use land use and development and support active modes of transportation.

Mobility and transportation goals outlined in the document include reducing on-site parking requirements through the use of shared parking, managing competing priorities for curb space and adopting a complete streets model aimed at making roadways safer for motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders and drivers alike.

Street improvements identified in the document include reducing the number of travel lanes on Main Street from four to three with a center running left turn lane or landscaped median and one lane in each direction between Riverside Drive and Freedom Boulevard, converting East Lake Avenue and East Beach Street from one-way couplets into two-way streets and squaring off the connection between Union Street and Alexander Street from East Lake Avenue to East Beach Street and vacating that portion of Union Street for private development.

Potential pedestrian improvements outlined in the plan include high-visibility striping, creating a network of paseos with minimum widths of 12 feet and enhanced mid-block crossings through rapid flashing lights, pavement markings, refuge islands and signs. Recommended bicycle network improvements include new signed bicycle routes such as one on Marchant Street between East Beach Street and the Levee Trail, wider bicycle lanes with an enhanced buffer between adjacent vehicular travel lanes and the bicycle lane on Rodriguez Street between West Lake Avenue and West Beach Street and improving the connection from the Levee Trail to River Park.

The California Department of Transportation is also including a “road diet” concept from Watsonville in its upcoming State Highway Operation and Protection Program. Road diets consist of reducing the number of travel lanes, in this case, reducing the lanes on Main Street. That project is included in the Downtown Watsonville Specific Plan.

Commissioner Lucy Rojas asked about the timeline for implementation. Meek said that, on the public sector side, the city is focused on streetscape and roadway improvements, which he said is dependent on when funding is available. On the private sector side, he said there will be development over time and some developers have expressed interest.

“We’ll hopefully see that that comes to fruition once the regulations move forward,” he said.

Rojas asked Meek what he felt was most exciting about the plan. He said it offered a change in direction for how zoning was applied.

“It affords the opportunity to really think about the public space and the interplay between buildings and the street,” he said. “That allows for a lot more predictability in trying to create a good space.”

Community Development Director Suzi Merriam said the plan would make travel safer for pedestrians on Main Street and have clear guidelines for architects and developers.

“For the first time, we’re looking at an entire area and how all these different little neighborhoods in that area work together and can change to really activate and connect with the potential future rail trail, the Metro station and really connect folks throughout this downtown area,” she said.