Annie Kunellis, 93, lives on Aguila Avenue in Old Town Goleta. She enjoys taking walks twice a day.
But there’s a problem when she and her caregiver, Aurora Montana, take a stroll.
“I have to walk in the street,” Kunellis said. “A sidewalk would be nice.”
There are no sidewalks on one side of her street, and in many places in her neighborhood. Kunellis has learned to be cautious.
“We always stop when we hear a car coming,” Kunellis said. Montana added “The people around here drive like they are on a highway.”
Soon, however, Kunellis may have a sidewalk to walk on.
The Goleta City Council Tuesday night took a step toward building sidewalks on several Old Town Goleta streets, including Pine, Orange, Tecolote, Nectarine, Mandarin, Aguila, and several others in the neighborhood.
They agreed to put the project out to bid and increase the sidewalk width from four to five feet. The city has $3.8 million to fund the project.
The streets in parts of Old Town bump up to property lines. Cars park on streets and dirt pathways. When it rains, Old Town Goleta is often flooded because of serious drainage issues.
Plans call for the removal of 26 trees in the area, all of which would be replaced. Four trees would be relocated and 44 protected; 13 new trees will be planted.
As part of the project, the city plans to install about 45 angled parking spaces on Magnolia Avenue. City officials plan to study the effectiveness of the angled parking before deciding whether to move ahead and install hundreds of angled parking spots on Hollister Avenue in Old Town.
“I’m so excited to see the angled parking option,” Councilman James Kyriaco said. “Being able to have that proof of concept is really going to help us.”
Before development ballooned on the north end of Goleta, Old Town was the original land of Goleta expansion, the first area to replace the many fruit groves that several of the streets — Mandarin, Orange and Pine — are named after.
It is the densest area of the city, with multiple families packing mostly single-family homes to share the high cost of housing in the area.
It’s common to see moms pushing strollers or senior citizens walking in the streets because of a lack of sidewalks.
Kunellis, for as long as she can remember, has walked the streets of Old Town. She purchased her Aguila Avenue home for $10,000 in 1950, during a simpler time and when she knew everybody. She said she’ll feel safer with the new sidewalks.
“This is a huge project,” said Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte. “It is so needed for the safety in Old Town.”
— 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.
