Efforts to relieve traffic congestion in Santa Barbara County and alternative transportation were topics discussed Friday at a Carpinteria event that featured road, rail, air and bicycle projects.
More than 60 business and community leaders attended the Carpinteria Valley Chamber of Commerce’s first Transportation Summit at the Alcazar Theatre, where transportation agency officials highlighted projects in the works.
State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, offered an answer to some of the transportation challenges and needs facing California.
“Our roads, our streets and our freeways are a mess,” she said. “The potholes, the fact that we have many bridges that are unstable, and our roads are built for 80 or 100 years ago.”
Senate Bill 1, approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017, provides funding for crumbling transportation infrastructure, she said.
The controversial bill increased the gas tax by 12 cents per gallon, raised the diesel fuel tax by 20 cents per gallon and sharply hiked vehicle fees. Studies show that California drivers pay more than 73 cents per gallon in local, state and federal gas taxes — the second highest in the nation. Only Pennsylvania, at 77 cents, pays more.
Advocates say the higher taxes and fees will raise $52 billion for road and transit projects over the next 10 years, but the package is facing a voter backlash with a repeal initiative on the November ballot.
“We haven’t increased the gas tax since the 1990s,” Jackson said. “Because the cost of all the materials and labor continues to rise … the number of projects in California has been reduced. The demand is greater and greater.”
In May, the California Transportation Commission approved nearly $184 million in state grant funding to widen Highway 101 between Carpinteria and Montecito, with the funds coming from the new state taxes and fees.
Jackson said SB 1 is a proven way to pay for roads and other aspects of transportation infrastructure.
“$180 million of that anticipated gas tax will be coming to the communities of Santa Barbara County,” she said. “The money is going to help highway programs, the HOV (high-occupancy vehicle lane) network.
“This money is going to be used to make our lives better.”
Jackson spoke of the perks that come with using alternative transportation. Riders are offered coffee in the morning and beer in the evening when they take the train, she said.
During the summit, she highlighted the long-sought Amtrak service aimed at workers living in Ventura County and working in Santa Barbara County. The service began in April, with stops in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta.
“That train is now on time,” Jackson said. “In fact, it’s coming in early, and it has for the last four to six weeks. They worked out the kinks.”
During his brief comments, Ed France, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Bicycle Coalition, shared the recreational and transportation benefits of bike paths, as well as ambitious strategies to help connect a safe cycling corridor along the South Coast.
France said the community will benefit from the Rincon Multiuse Trail, a nearly mile-long pedestrian and bicycle corridor planned around Carpinteria.
The gap in the California Coastal Trail forces bikers to navigate more circuitous or dangerous routes along or around Highway 101, on inland streets or along the Union Pacific railroad tracks, he said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant project is part of the Highway 101 widening project, which includes reconstructing Highway 101 at Linden Avenue and widening the overcrossing to three lanes.
“This project is funded and queued up starting fiscal 2019-20,” France said. “It’s a significant project. You can cruise through and walk this path relatively easy.”
Also addressing the assembly were Santa Barbara Airport director Hazel Johns, MTD general manager Jerry Estrada, as well as Marjie Kirn, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, and Joyce Donaldson, president and CEO of the Carpinteria Valley Chamber of Commerce.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
