Separated bike paths, roundabouts and crosswalks are coming to Santa Barbara’s Cliff Drive.
The projects are still in the planning stage, but officials hope by 2025 to begin construction on a series of changes designed to improve the experience for pedestrians and cyclists.
“Overall, Cliff Drive still feels like an urban highway; it is one of the widest streets in Santa Barbara,” said Derrick Bailey, the city’s supervising transportation engineer.
Santa Barbara’s Transportation and Circulation Committee met recently to talk about the future of Cliff Drive as part of its overall Vision Zero effort to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on the city’s streets.
Cliff Drive is one of the most traveled roads in the city for cars, which presents safety concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists. People live on both sides of Cliff Drive and freqently cross back and forth on foot to get to Santa Barbara City College. The street is also wide, which means there’s room for bike paths, crosswalks and even roundabouts.
The city wants to add crosswalks on or near Cliff Drive at Camino Calma, Santa Cruz Boulevard and Oceano Avenue.
“City College to Meigs Road is well over a mile and a half, and there are no crosswalks,” Bailey said.
The city also is considering a roundabout on Cliff Drive at the intersections of Mesa Lane and Flora Vista Drive.
“Generally, roundabouts are safer, and the reason they are safer is because they control the speed,” Bailey said. “When drivers enter roundabouts, they have to slow to 20 miles per hour, so if there is a collision it is a less severe collision.”
Bailey and the city’s transportation staff also are considering protected bike lanes on Cliff Drive, either two-way or one-way. A divider, such as concrete or bollards, would provide physical separation between cars and cyclists. During the meeting, Bailey showed pictures of examples from places such as San Francisco, San Gabriel, Chicago and even the United Kingdom.
Officials say that something needs to be done. According to Bailey, 3.3 percent of vehicle collisions citywide result in severe or fatal injuries. On Cliff Drive, 5.6 percent of collisions involve severe or fatal injuries.
Ed France, executive director of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, said he appreciated city officials’ positive attitude of “expect success.”
“This is an amazing project,” he said. “This is a fabulous start to the process.”
He also said he would like to see the city experiment on State Street before making a decision on Cliff Drive.
“It would be really lovely to see a street like State be a precursor to perhaps a more ambitious cycle track project like this,” France said.
Rob Dayton, the city’s transportation planning and parking manager, said in response that the city plans to install a “pop-up” cycle track on State Street to test out the model.
The city plans to present the options to the public this winter, pick a plan next spring, design the project in 2021-24 and commence construction in 2025. It’s also planning to seek an Active Transportation Corridor grant to pay for the effort.
“This is really exciting,” Dayton said. “We have a really good understanding of what the Mesa community is looking for.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
