After more than 50 speakers and over two hours of public comment, the Santa Barbara City Council delayed a decision to redesign the intersection at State and De la Vina streets, sending the proposal back to city staff with members’ comments.
The goal of Tuesday night’s council discussion was to eliminate the “Y” section of the roadway that turns eastbound traffic on to De la Vina from State, and to slow down traffic that normally speeds through as it veers right on to De la Vina, over an adjacent crosswalk and bike lane. Council members also said they’d like to see future plans include a green right-hand traffic signal, reconfigure the existing bike lane and better balance the intersection for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
The project has been in the works since 2004, and would use local funds to leverage four times the amount of federal funds, that would otherwise go to another city, Mark Bradley, of the Transportation and Circulation Committee, said during the comment period.
The majority of the project, whose price tag tops $1 million, is funded by a federal grant from the Transportation Congestion Relief Program, which is then given out by the state. In addition to the State and De la Vina intersection, four other intersections are being improved with funds from the TCRP, including the intersection at De la Vina and Figueroa streets, where a week ago a 67-year-old man was run over by an MTD bus and subsequently died from his injuries. The council voted unanimously to grant immediately $20,000 for the design stages of that project and the State and De la Vina plan.
The State-De la Vina project also will draw on $318,000 of local street funds, which can only be used for street-eligible projects. City staff said actually receiving money from the state for the project could have the council waiting until 2011, considering California’s fiscal condition.
Several representatives of businesses located nearby opposed the project, and said it would create gridlock in the area. Others warned the council to be proactive when looking at the intersection’s lack of incident.
“There’s no record of a pedestrian or bicycle injury, but that could change in an instant,” said Wilson Hubbell. “Today’s fact could wind up being tomorrow’s evidence.”
“I ride through that intersection on my bike and it scares the living daylights out of me,” Michael Kwan said. “I don’t want to be the first fatality, and if I am, it’s going to cost the city a lot more than $1 million to settle the claim.”
Several speakers said they felt that as cars begin to take the “free” right on to De la Vina, the route acts more like a highway on-ramp, and many accelerate without signaling.
In addition to the safety concerns voiced during the evening, others had qualms about approving a state-backed project in time of economic uncertainty.
“I know there’s a serious amount of money promised to us, but the reality is that the state of California is on the verge of being bankrupt,” said Councilwoman Iya Falcone. She also said she could not support sending the motion forward because of the lack of consensus shown in the evening’s public comment.
Councilwoman Helene Schneider said she’d like to see a bike path cut through the portion of the park area that would cover the present free right lane. That would empty bikers and walkers out on to De la Vina, helping them avoid cross traffic.
Schneider still had reservations, however.
“I don’t think we’ve really figured out what really works for everybody yet,” she said. “This idea just isn’t cooked yet.”
City staff said that one parking space may be lost off of State Street if the project proceeds as it was shown Tuesday. Council members said they’d like to see as much parking preserved as possible.
“We need to slow that traffic turning right,” said Mayor Marty Blum. “I think this is a good solution.”
After a unanimous vote, council members sent their comments back to city staff and will revisit them in the next few weeks.
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