Construction of a roundabout at the Los Carneros and Calle Real intersection in Goleta will begin next week, according to city officials.
That intersection has been plagued by side-impact collisions over the years, and the city previously installed stop signs at each of the three interchanges on the road.
Next week’s construction will start the city’s first roundabout, which was chosen for that intersection because of an expected increase in traffic in the area when the city takes up improvements one exit down Highway 101 at Fairview Avenue next year.
The city also has four roundabouts slated for Old Town, which are part of a larger plan of improvements for the area.
The city is doing the roundabout work at Los Carneros and Calle Real now because it will be tackling work on the Las Vegas and San Pedro creeks, which will impact traffic on Fairview Avenue, directing it to the new roundabout.
“Caltrans anticipates a full closure of the northbound on-ramp at Fairview Avenue for at least a year and a full closure of the southbound off-ramp at Fairview Avenue for six months for that project,” said Rosemarie Gaglione, the city’s capital improvement program manager.
That creek improvement project will begin in 2013, and the city decided to install the roundabout to accommodate the expected increase in traffic, rather than erect a temporary traffic signal.
Construction is expected to take three to four months.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
