Seven months after the Old Town Goleta restriping, the city reports that traffic volume and vehicle speeds have decreased along Hollister Avenue and increased along alternative routes in the area.

On Tuesday, the Goleta City Council is expected to discuss those and other impacts of the controversial project.

Members of the City Council have stood firm in their support of the project, while residents are divided. Some say the project has hurt local businesses and made parking more of a challenge, while others say it has improved safety.

The City of Goleta restriped Hollister Avenue last summer, reducing the two lanes on each side to one, not allowing left turns from Tecolote Avenue to Orange Avenue, and adding bike lanes.

The parking along Hollister Avenue also changed from parallel to back-in angled spots. The city’s goal was to slow down traffic and add parking while it focused on Project Connect, which will add roundabouts to Hollister Avenue near Highway 217 and replace the existing bridge over San Jose Creek.

To understand how things have changed, city staff collected traffic volume and speed data along Hollister Avenue from October 2022 to compare to post-project traffic data. 

According to the staff report, city staff found that the traffic volume along Hollister Avenue has decreased 10% since the project. However, traffic has increased along alternative routes. Since the project, daily traffic volume has increased 26% on Armitos Avenue, 43% on Gaviota Street and 17% on Mandarin Drive. Gato Avenue, however, saw an 8% decrease in daily traffic volume.

Prevailing vehicle speeds decreased after the restriping project, from 31.4 mph to 28 mph, according to the staff report.

The project increased Hollister Avenue parking to 88 spaces from 69 spaces. Despite the increase in parking, many people have expressed that they find the back-in angled parking unsafe and difficult to navigate.

Monica Scafidi, whose parents own Domingo’s Cafe at 5782 Hollister Ave., said the parking has driven away customers. While Domingo’s Cafe shares a back parking lot with the rest of the block, she said that when that lot is full, customers will turn away rather than park up front.

“They don’t want to park up front, so the parking that was supposed to help just kind of sits empty a lot,” Scafidi said. “Then overnight, a lot of the people from the neighborhood park there because they can’t find parking in the neighborhood.”

Scafidi also said that going from two lanes to one has caused some confusion for customers. 

“A lot of people that come through my cafe tell me that it’s very confusing, and they say, ‘We don’t know where to go,’” Scafidi said. “It starts opening up, and then it closes and it just bottlenecks a lot.”

Scafidi said she doesn’t feel like the restriping has made the area any safer and that it has made traffic in the neighborhoods around Hollister Avenue worse.

“I don’t see a change for the better,” Scafidi said. “I know they were trying something and hoping that it was going to be wonderful, but I don’t think it’s wonderful.”

While some have been vocally against the project, many, especially cyclists, have been in favor of the restriping. The council has already received a handful of written comments in support. 

Sarah Sehr, a Goleta resident, said she feels safer biking through Old Town and finds that the back-in angled parking makes the street look better. 

“While I never had an accident before the restriping, I always felt very nervous biking in the sharrow line because of the limited visibility and speed of traffic,” Sehr wrote to the council. “The restriping made me feel so much safer because there was a clear place where cars would expect me to be and visibility significantly improved.”

Former Councilman Kyle Richards, who voted to approve the restriping, wrote to the current council to express his support. 

“There is indisputably more parking and reduced traffic speeds,” Richards wrote. “And although some people like to gripe about the reduction of automobile traffic from two lanes in each direction down to one, this has not impeded traffic flow in the restriped area. Observations indicate that the traffic congestion is primarily caused by the bridge and roundabout construction.”

He also advocated for an added crosswalk at Magnolia Street and said that if any changes are made that the city should keep the designated bike lane. 

The City Council is set to review the project at Tuesday’s meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. at 130 Cremona Drive. 

The public can make comments by attending in person or via Zoom.