The left-hand exits on Highway 101 will go away as part of a massive Caltrans reconfiguration of the Cabrillo Boulevard interchange in Santa Barbara.
Caltrans and engineering firm Mark Thomas went before the Santa Barbara Architectural Board of Review on Monday to present the last leg of the Highway 101 High Occupancy Vehicle lane project, known as 4E.
The project calls for a new carpool lane, a roundabout near the onramp, soundwalls, cobblestone under the new bridge, and a variety of plants to make it all feel less like a concrete jungle.
Crews will replace the current metal median barriers with concrete, and the widening will take place in the middle of the northbound and southbound lanes, rather than the outward edges.
The construction will take place entirely within city of Santa Barbara limits and within the Caltrans right of way.
The length of the $256 million project stretches from Olive Mill Road to Sycamore Creek, and is still unfunded. The construction is part of a larger HOV lane project from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara.
Eventually, the Santa Barbara Planning Commission will have to award the project a coastal-development permit.
Board member Richard Six said he supports the project, but he will miss the left-hand exits.
“That quirky, left-handed, charming, small-scale Cabrillo interchange is not going to be there,” Six said. “It’s just not possible with the HOV lanes. I think we are going to miss that old funkiness, but what’s being replaced is the best, good-looking solution.”
Board member Leon Olson asked about graffiti on the new soundwalls, which prompted the design team to say that they had designed the project to avoid grafitti.
“One of the primary drivers for making sure we had plantings in front of the walls is to minimize the blank face of the walls,” said Zach Siviglia, president and CEO of Mark Thomas. “That’s there to deter grafitti. That’s there to provide as much planting in front of those walls as possible.”
Olson briefly quarreled with ABR board president Kevin Moore over the plantings.
“In this time of water conservation that we are facing, and perhaps even greater water conservation in the near future, how does that fit with all the greenery that makes the presentations so palatable?” Olson asked the design team.
Before the design team could respond, Moore quickly jumped in.
“I understand your concern, the question, but the aesthetics, this is what we’ve chosen. They certainly have run through the process of vetting what’s being planted,” Moore retorted.
Olson responded that without water, “it’s not going to be green.”
Moore then said “our purview is the aesthetics, what are they presenting,” prompting Olson to let the matter go.
The project’s landscape architect, Christine Anderson, said that reclaimed water will be used on a low-flow irrigation system, and that the robust vegetation included drought-tolerant plants.
The board offered mostly positive comments on the project, making suggestions about smoothing out the look of the soundwalls, varying the texture of the cobblestone under the bridges, and eliminating some of the proposed palm trees.
The project will return to the ABR.
— 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.