Stacey CampbellMar 23

I used to commute Hwy 17 out of Santa Cruz county about 30 years ago. It was a major commute road back then, and still is now. Through to the 1940s there was a train line over roughly the same route, and in the 1990s there was talk of reopening the line for commuters.

Back then various locals managed to shut down any chance of the rail being restored. And of course Hwy 17 is still the dangerous nightmare it was 30 years ago.

And they are still fiddling with Hwy 17 trying to reduce (but never stop) the carnage.

https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/bay-area-highway-speed-22092247.php

Show threadStacey CampbellMar 23

Derek Whaley has put together a timeline of the history of failure to reopen the rail line. (Full credit to Derek, he manages to document that history without using NIMBY even once.)

https://www.santacruztrains.com/2018/01/curiosities-feasibility-studies-to.html

Curiosities: Feasibility Studies to Restore the Mountain Route

On February 7, 1938, regularly-scheduled passenger service between Santa Cruz and Watsonville along the Southern Pacific Railroad Company’s ...

Show threadMatthijs De SmedtMar 24
@stacey_campbell I wish there was a rail line. 17 is (still) dangerous and stressful to drive. And one incident shuts the whole thing down causing hours of delays.
Show threadStacey CampbellMar 24
@anji I remember one foggy morning coming to a complete stop in the slow lane at Valley Surprise due to a wreck, and getting passed in the fast lane by a car that was _upside down_, which then slid into the wreck.
Show threadMatthijs De Smedt
@stacey_campbell That's a Valley Surprise
Mar 24 at 1:02amWeb