Safe paths in Scotts Valley nearing completion

A pair of projects designed to improve pedestrian safety in north Scotts Valley are nearing completion.
According to city officials, work on the new sidewalk on Vine Hill School Road and Tabor Drive and the pedestrian pathway connecting Siltanen Park to Glenwood Drive could be finished by the end of November.
“We have almost gone to about 70 percent completion,” said Scotts Valley City Engineer Majid Yamin of the pathway project, on which work began in July.
Motorists on Glenwood Drive can see the project taking shape as work crews have graded the planned half-mile, 12-foot-wide pathway and installed the abutments for the prefabricated steel truss bridges that will be installed over the gully.
“We’re waiting on the prefabricated bridges,” Yamin said. “We expect that to come as early as November.”
Once the bridges are installed, he said, then the pathway itself will be paved with asphalt and the bridge abutments will be covered in stone veneer.
Currently, Yamin said, waiting for the bridge to be delivered is the only thing that is making the estimated completion date in November.
“It could’ve been done by now if it wasn’t for the bridge itself,” he said.
The $550,000 project was financed by approximately $450,000 in state-legislated Safe Routes to School Program funds. The remaining $100,000 was supplied by development impact fees collected by the City of Scotts Valley.
Funding for the project was sought by the city in order to create a shortcut path between Scotts Valley High School and Siltanen Park — and the neighboring Vineyard communities — to encourage more students to walk to campus.
Meanwhile, work is also nearing completion on a separate project that will bring a sidewalk from the top driveway to Vine Hill Elementary School on Tabor Drive, around the corner onto Vine Hill School Road and through to the entrance to Siltanen Park.
“We are almost done with the work,” Yamin said. “I can say that’s about 90 percent complete.”
The $500,000 project also calls for the pavement along Tabor to be widened to accommodate bike lanes and disabled people, as well as for the road’s drainage system to be improved.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission approved the city’s plans to receive a $400,000 grant, part of a larger countywide grant from the federal government’s Surface Transportation Improvement Program.
The city is contributing $100,000 from drainage impact fees and gas tax funds.
Scotts Valley Unified School District Superintendent Penny Weaver said that she looks forward to the projects’ completion, saying that they will improve the safety for Scotts Valley’s students and pedestrians.
“We’re excited about the accessibility,” she said. “I think this is going to be really good for safety.”
Weaver also applauded the Scotts Valley City Council and city staffers for their dedication to education in seeking out the grant funds to make both projects possible.