Goleta is hoping to reduce vehicle collisions with its project to upgrade traffic lights and intersections around town, and drivers will see the changes on the roads next summer.
During the Goleta City Council meeting on Tuesday, it unanimously approved plans and specifications for the Citywide Traffic Signal Upgrade Project. The plans include the intersections where city lights would undergo renovations.
The safety upgrades are limited to individual intersections. Autumn Glaeser, assistant director of Public Works, clarified that the project does not connect traffic signals together or improve intersection operations from a traffic perspective.
However, if residents have traffic light duration concerns, they should report it to the city, according to Kelly Hoover, Goleta’s community relations manager.
Throughout the city, at 32 intersections, traffic signals will get a facelift to include 12-inch signal heads and retroflective signal head back plates.
It is estimated to have a 15% reduction in collisions because of improved signal visibility to drivers and advanced perception of the upcoming intersection during both day and night, according to Glaeser.
Advanced dilemma zone detections also will be installed at 19 intersections, which include advanced cameras that will monitor a vehicle’s speed live as it reaches the intersection and adjust the signal’s green light duration.
The light can stay green longer if it anticipates a vehicle will continue on through the decision zone, the middle section of the stretch of road before reaching a traffic light. The change alleviates a driver’s “dilemma” over deciding whether to stop or continue through the light, according to Glaeser.
Glaeser estimates a 40% reduction in the rate of collisions.
Additionally, 28 intersections will have accessible pedestrian signal push buttons that will flash lights at drivers when a person is waiting to go at a crosswalk, compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Glaeser estimates that the push button addition will have a 13% reduction in pedestrian and vehicle collisions. Pedestrians will have a three- to seven-second head start, allowing pedestrians to enter first while all traffic is stopped.
“That’s huge … that such a relatively small amount — you know, it’s $3 million — could have such a consequential impact,” Councilman Staurt Kasdin said.
Other upgrades include upgraded controllers and mast arms.
The upgrades are funded by the state-funded Highway Safety Improvement Program Grant from which the city received $3,120,000 in 2021. However, city staff requested $97,201 more from Caltrans Local Assistance to increase grant funding, and that is currently in process. The award is expected to be given this fall.
Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. prepared the plans, specifications and estimated package for the project. The City Council unanimously awarded the construction contract to Alfaro Communications Construction Inc. after it submitted the lowest bid at $2,380,400.
The council also awarded Willdan Engineering Inc. to manage construction, inspection, public outreach and materials testing services.
Councilman James Kyriaco was not present at Tuesday’s meeting.
The affected streets will be:
- Hollister Avenue at Ellwood School
- Hollister Avenue at Entrance Road
- Cathedral Oaks Road at Alameda Avenue
- Hollister Avenue at Pacific Oaks Road
- Cathedral Oaks Road at Glen Annie Road
- Hollister Avenue at Village Way and Camino Real Marketplace
- Hollister Avenue at Glen Annie Road
- Hollister Avenue at Storke Road
- Storke Road at Marketplace Drive
- Storke Road at Phelps Road
- Hollister Avenue at Coromar Drive
- Hollister Avenue at Los Carneros Road
- Los Carneros Road at Castilian Drive
- Los Carneros Road at Karl Storz Drive
- Los Carneros at Calle Koral
- Los Carneros at Discovery Drive
- Hollister Avenue at Sumida Gardens Lane
- Hollister Avenue at Patterson Avenue
- Fairview Avenue at Calle Real
- Calle Real at Encina Lane
- Calle Real at the Calle Real Shopping Center
- Calle Real at Kellogg Avenue
- Calle Real at Maravilla
- Patterson Avenue at Overpass Road
- Fairview Avenue at Encina Road
- Fairview Avenue at Berkeley Road
- Cathedral Oaks Road at Fairview Avenue
- Cathedral Oaks Road at Cambridge Drive
- Hollister Avenue at Fairview Avenue
- Hollister Avenue at Nectarine Avenue
- Hollister Avenue at Rutherford Street
- Hollister Avenue at Kinman Avenue