••• “The city of Santa Barbara […] is set to overhaul about 3.1 miles of Cliff Drive. The plan is to install four new traffic signals, 14 new crosswalks, new safety features and crossings, including curb extension, widened sidewalks, high visibility-crosswalk markings, median refuge islands, rectangular rapid flashing beacons and safety lighting. […] Several changes are planned, including creating a completely separated bike path, and removing 46 parking spaces along the road for a total of 142. The city also plans to remove 23 trees, but plant 70 new ones. […] In another change, the strip mall commercial area where Taco Bell sits will change from two-way to one-way, and angled parking will be installed facing the businesses.” No word yet on when construction will start or how long it’s expect to take. —Noozhawk
••• “The city of Santa Barbara is planning to fell 33 trees on the Westside in an effort to improve pedestrian and bike pathways. The proposal will be presented to the city’s Parks & Recreation Commission at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. […] 40 new locations have been identified for future tree plantings,” which Edhat refers to as “plantations” at another point in the article.
••• “Four [more, for a total of eight] new traffic enforcement vehicles with license plate readers are coming to Santa Barbara by the end of the year as part of a series of changes to the city’s downtown parking program. The city also plans to install a pay-on-foot parking system kiosk at its Helena Avenue lot as a pilot program. […] People will enter their license plate and how long they are staying. If they exceed their time, they will receive a notice-to-pay in the mail. Clark said the city is considering a phone app to pay but is not quite there yet.” I hope this doesn’t mean you have to pay to use that lot at all. —Noozhawk
••• “Santa Barbara’s Museum of Contemporary Art recently made the difficult decision to pause the awaited Día de los Muertos event this year. Linking to the recent presence of ICE in Santa Barbara County, this decision was made primarily to protect impacted communities.” —Independent
••• “President Donald Trump said he is considering a proposal to end capital gains taxes on home sales in a bid to boost the housing market.” Such an act would surely free up some high-end properties around here. —Bloomberg
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Kudos to the city for prioritizing bike and pedestrian safety! Between these two projects and the county’s multi-use path along Modoc, we’re getting safer, more convenient alternatives to driving between popular destinations. And it’s a win for motorists too, since added separation helps reduce collisions, which no one wants. This will be transformative for our area and I love to see it.
I never see anyone in these expensive bike lane projects. Stop cutting down trees.
I do.
I very seldom see people using the bike lanes. Even using them correctly. !! Some low i.q. people go down de la vina street instead of streets with bike lanes thus a hassle for cars traveling de la vina st.
After 5 million$$ wasted on researching what to do on State st. Now the city council people want to cut down 33 mature well established trees. Where’s Santa Barbara beautiful
Is there anyone who wants to save the many beautiful trees this city has for a few bikes. This is not Holland or any place in Europe. Save Our City 🙏
I ride my bike all over this town (not an e-bike, just a regular 7-speed cruiser), multiple days a week. I use the new Modoc trail frequently. I ride up Cliff Drive all the time and I will certainly use the new bike path there when it’s finished. I use the Castillo, Bath, and Chapala bike paths, as well as many of the East-West bike lanes. The ease of biking in this town allows my wife and I to own and maintain just one car for the two of us. Biking may not work for you. Everyone’s situation is different. Trees were undoubtedly cut down to provide the roads you drive on. Why can’t the same be done for bikers and pedestrians?
The modoc extension is great, The cliff drive projects seems expensive and unnecessary for city with a $7 million deficit. Also public safety should start with enforcement of laws, before infrastructure.
There’s no point in building things out for public safety when there is no enforcement of anything.
The money for Cliff Dr is not coming from from the City cofferes. It is coming from a grant from the State for improved alternative transportation options (biking and walkibg) and pedestrian safety.