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Watsonville aiming to redesign downtown streets

For bicyclists and pedestrians, city streets can sometimes feel very car-centric.

The City of Watsonville wants to change that, at least in its downtown area. It is a plan that will enable access for all travelers, and the public is getting a chance to weigh in.

It is called the Downtown Complete Streets plan, an initiative aiming to redesign the roads, making them more friendly for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders.

The plan focuses on three main corridors: Main Street, Rodriguez Street, and Brennan/Union Streets.

The city is hosting community workshops this year to get feedback from residents. They had one on Saturday at the Strawberry Festival.

“What kind of improvements would they like to see to make it more friendly for those modes of transportation, for all modes,” said Maria Esther Rodriguez, assistant director of public works in Santa Cruz.

“The sidewalks as you can see here, they are narrow. There’s definitely not bike lanes like hardly ever in any place,” said Mayra Bernabe, a Watsonville resident.

“The cars are going a little too fast. I’d like to see them narrowed, lanes narrowed down slightly,” said Steve Fidrych, another Watsonville resident.

Currently Watsonville has two design alternatives they are looking at. Alternative A shows more bicycle improvements, while Alternative B is more pedestrian-oriented.

While there were helpful illustrations at Saturday’s workshop booth at the Strawberry Festival, the city is also using virtual reality to exhibit designs. These include things like green bike lanes, pedestrian refuge islands and corner extensions known as bulb-outs.

“Bringing these corners out provides an area tucked in for parking and also again, less pavement to travel for pedestrians. So if we put a bulb-out on the corners, that will help that,” said Rodriguez.

Staff is scheduled to present an update to the city council this fall, and the council is expected to make a decision on a plan at least by January or February of next year.

Caltrans awarded Watsonville with a $250,000 planning grant for the Downtown Complete Streets Plan.

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