One of Santa Barbara’s little-known but important bridges will soon get replaced.
The city’s Historic Landmarks Commission last week accepted an archeological report that will allow the project to move forward.
The proposal calls for the replacement of the three-span, timber Sycamore Creek Bridge due to decay and structural deficiencies.
Plans also call for new sidewalks, channel walls, revegetation of creek banks, street and pedestrian lighting, and fencing. The bridge is on the 1200 block of Carpinteria Street on Santa Barbara’s Eastside. Construction is expected to begin in 2024. It will cost about $11 million is mostly funded by the state’s Highway Bridge Program.
The bridge is 95 years old, according to Caltrans. Despite its age, the bridge it is not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because it has been modified several times.
Those changes include the installation of supplemental support columns to provide extra stability.
“Due to its age and further deficiencies, replacement has become necessary,” according to the archeological report.
The existing bridge accommodates about 4,700 vehicles per day, according to 2010 traffic counts. By 2036, it is expected that more than 5,200 vehicles will travel over the span.
To accommodate this increase, the new bridge is proposed to be a wider and longer concrete structure.
Among the changes: a new 60-by-52-foot concrete bridge; improved hydraulics of the bridge by increasing roadway elevation and removing piers in the creek; reconstruction of the pavement; installation of new curbs and gutters, re-striping; and improvements to bicycle and pedestrian access.
Nicole Hernandez, city historian, did not know of any identified historic resources in the vicinity of the bridge replacement.
“There are no archeological resources present within the area of potential effect, and none nearby that could be potentially impacted,” said Hannah Haas, program manager for Rincon Consultants. “We did not find anything in our own fieldwork and previous studies of the area.”
Haas said six previous studies also did not reveal any findings of cultural significance.
“We determined that the sensitivity to this area is low,” Haas said. “Low sensitivity, no real potential for impact here.”
The span itself is not historically significant.
“The bridge is ineligible, and therefore there is no potential for impacts to the bridge itself since it is not a resource,” said Rachel Perzel, architectural historian with Rincon Consulting.
— 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.
