The unanimous decision by the Capitola City Council in a raucous, sometimes divisive, 4.5-hour session Thursday night to uphold a city law that precludes the coastal trail from veering onto city streets sets up a whole series of questions on an issue that will run far, far longer than 22 miles of coastal rail corridor.

The council voted 5-0 not to support realigning Park Avenue (from the middle of Capitola into the New Brighton Beach area) — essentially ending, at least for now, the plan to take the ever controversial biking and pedestrian trail (of rail-trail fame) along 0.7 miles of the roadway. Trail Segments 10 and 11 (Live Oak to Aptos) while not fully funded, have had at least $70 million in grant money allocated toward their construction.

The council seemed to heed extensive public comments that they should uphold the law put in place by voters through 2018’s Measure L that requires the trail to run along the rail corridor and not divert onto city streets. The fate of the iconic Capitola Trestle, where train tracks currently exist, remains hazy, as removing the tracks would require a complicated process known as railbanking that would set aside the existing railroad tracks for potential future use.

For now, the vote means the trail, if constructed, would continue along the corridor, and the crumbling trestle — one of the many bridges and barriers along the corridor that would cost an estimated $980 million to replace or shore up — could still be rebuilt or demolished.

So now what?

Despite the Capitola detour, a majority of county voters who cast ballots in 2022 voted to support a train along the coastal rail corridor. And, as Park Avenue advocates have noted, biking is unsafe in much of our crowded county.

But, the county Regional Transportation Commission faces a dilemma of how to move forward with the trail, much less rail, through Capitola. The route along the corridor, officials have said, would be expensive and challenging to complete.

The majority of speakers who appeared at the packed council meeting voiced support for the decision the council would eventually land on, saying a trail through streets would quickly become overcrowded and unsafe.

After the decision, others, many from Friends of the Rail and Trail, urged the council not to engage in the kind of obstructionism Santa Cruz County and its cities have become well known for. Others accused some council members of being “racist,” or said the council was being “bullied” by “wealthy” residents into the decision. Still others said the decision was an anti-train vote robbing commuters of future options, leading to more confusion, delays and costs.

Will this vote hold back the train plans, much less the rail-trail concept? Probably. The RTC could decide that the Capitola trail segment is not worth the future expense or trouble — and while no one is saying the vote is a death knell for a project already facing uncertain outcomes, it’s hardly an “all aboard” call.

Because Capitola is not the only barrier to train plans becoming reality anytime soon. The eventual cost for the electric train may become clearer this fall with the Zero Emission Rail and Trail study report to the RTC, but estimates are in the $4 billion range, and even with state and federal grants, taxpayers would be on the hook for a new levy.

Suffice to say, this issue of funding a train and building a trail along the coast is not decided, nor, obviously, is the debate over.

Thursday’s decision doesn’t mean a train won’t happen or that bike lanes can’t be improved. But we applaud the council for coming together unanimously, despite the invectives and at least one member’s misgivings, and listening to city voters.