County adopts Safety Action Plan; board asks CDI to return with match-funding options

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a countywide Safety Action Plan on May 19 that applies a Safe Systems approach—engineering, education, enforcement and emergency care—to reduce fatal and severe injury crashes.

Assistant Director of Public Works Steve Wiesner and consultant staff presented crash data from 2019–2023 showing that unsignalized intersections and roadway segments account for a majority of fatal and severe-injury collisions. The plan highlights four challenge areas: lane departures, bicycle safety, impaired or aggressive driving, and motorcycle safety. Public engagement produced 891 map comments and community surveys that repeatedly identified missing bike infrastructure, aggressive driving, and pavement quality as major concerns.

The plan includes a countermeasure toolbox and site-specific recommendations (examples presented included green bike-lane treatments and a bike box at Capitola Road/17th Avenue; and centerline rumble strips and high-friction surfacing for lane-departure corridor locations). Wiesner said the toolbox is intended to make the county more competitive for implementation grants such as Safe Streets for All, HSIP (Highway Safety Improvement Program) and Active Transportation Program funding.

Supervisor Jeff Koenig moved adoption with additional direction that CDI return during budget hearings with a specific request or options for local matching funds required to pursue Safe Streets for All and other priority applications, plus a description of safety projects that could be advanced within the existing budget. Director Matt Machado said staff will identify lower-cost safety measures that can be accommodated in current operations and will outline where local match money could be reallocated if a grant is awarded. The motion passed 5–0.

Health services staff highlighted connections between impaired-driving prevention and public-health outreach: the county already runs impaired-driving education and merchant programs and will pursue further grant opportunities. The plan's authors also noted that some high-impact projects have favorable benefit-cost ratios for HSIP-type applications.

Board members asked staff to return in the fall with a prioritized list of programmatic, lower-cost measures that can be implemented quickly (e.g., improved signs, pavement markings, selective rumble strips and reflective signal backplates) and with options for funding matches for larger corridor or intersection applications.

Adoption of the Safety Action Plan gives the county an organized evidence-based framework to seek implementation funding, align with city and regional partners, and phase projects into the capital program and grant pipeline.