Drivers whiz through a crosswalk at Main Street and Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> Join reporters Jesse Kathan and Fidel M. Soto on Friday for an event about street safety that includes art, conversation and information. We want to hear your thoughts on how to make Watsonville streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Reporters will be at Watsonville Plaza during the Farmers Market, inviting attendees to:

• Contribute to an art project that envisions safer streets.
• Get connected to organizations and resources for street safety.
• Learn about our reporting on bike and pedestrian issues.
• Tell city and county leaders what they want for their streets.

This event follows a months-long series of stories on bike and pedestrian safety issues across Santa Cruz County, including:

• An interactive map of bike and pedestrian injuries and deaths in Santa Cruz County.
• A story about the decades of state inaction on unsafe parts of Highway 9 and a mother’s loss of her son in San Lorenzo Valley.
• An analysis of state data showing Watsonville has the highest per-capita rates of pedestrian and cyclist deaths in the county, and that rates have increased over time.
• An explainer on why the most effective way of keeping cyclists and pedestrians alive is to slow down cars.
• Possible solutions for safer streets from Hoboken, New Jersey, which has had zero traffic-related deaths for eight years.

Let us know you’re coming here. Se habla español.

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