The Santa Cruz County Transportation Commission, along with RRM Design Group, W-Trans, and Rincon Consultants, , received the Outstanding Planning Document award for the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network Master Plan at the AEP conference in Santa Barbara on March 23rd.

The Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network is planned to be a transportation, recreation, and interpretive bicycle and pedestrian pathway network that spans the entire coast of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, from the northern part of Santa Cruz County to Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, Monterey County. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission hired RRM Design Group to prepare a multi-phased bikeway trail alignment and design study. The study aligns the trail along the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way and provides coastal access or coastal viewing opportunities, where possible. The study provided significant public involvement and outreach, topographic mapping, GPS control surveys, a preferred route and design, preliminary trail engineering, cost analysis, and environmental CEQA clearance.