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

It also reported an increase in pedestrian and cyclist activity in the area.

Residents have conflicting feelings about the project. Some say the restriping has made Old Town safer for cyclists and pedestrians, while others are frustrated with the back-in angled parking and say the project has driven away customers from businesses. 

The city’s goal was to slow down traffic and add parking while it focused on Project Connect, which will add two roundabouts to Hollister Avenue near Highway 217 and replace the bridge over San Jose Creek.

Councilman Stuart Kasdin noted that Old Town is facing the combined impacts of the restriping along with roundabout and bridge construction. 

“It’s really important that people recognize that this is not the final stage, and what we see in a year or two is going to be different,” Kasdin said.

The restriping reduced traffic to one lane in each direction along Hollister Avenue in the area and added bike lanes.

The parking along Hollister Avenue also changed from parallel to back-in angled spots. 

To understand the impacts, city staff collected traffic volume and speed data along Hollister Avenue from October 2022 to compare to post-project traffic data. 

City staff reported that the traffic volume along Hollister Avenue decreased 10%, or fewer than 2,000 daily trips since the project.

However, traffic has increased along alternative routes. Since the project, daily traffic volume has increased 26% along Armitos Avenue, 43% along Gaviota Street and 17% along 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.

City staff also found that bicycle and pedestrian activity increased during peak commute hours. Bicycle activity increased 44% during morning commute hours, and pedestrian activity increased 67% in the afternoon.

Councilman James Kyriaco said he was glad to see more pedestrians and cyclists in the area along with reduced speeds and collisions. 

“There’s been so much narrative out there about how people feel about this project, and I think it’s important as a city, as much as possible, that we make decisions that are driven by data, not just driven by how things make us feel,” Kyriaco said.

He added that feelings are important and do drive behavior, but that it’s important for residents to understand the real impacts of the project.

During public comment, Jacqueline Inda, a board member for the Greater Santa Barbara Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the 2,000 fewer daily trips into Old Town has a serious impact on local businesses. 

“When you have 2,000 people being diverted from a downtown into other corridors, you have losses of income and revenues for business owners, which means you also have less employees that can work full time,” Inda said. 

She asked for more collaboration and dialogue between the council and the community on other ways to improve Hollister Avenue. 

Robert Bernstein, a Goleta resident since 1982, said he was grateful for the new bike lanes.

“The way it was before, it felt like a constant assault,” Bernstein said. “Under the legal definition, an assault does not mean that the person hit you; it meant that you felt threatened, and that was how it had been.”

He added that he rarely sees traffic come to a standstill and that the negative comments online about the project are part of the reason customers have been driven away. 

Following public comment, the council asked staff to explore some improvements, including parking for employees, a Magnolia Avenue crosswalk, and improved bike lanes for turning right onto Fairview Avenue. 

City Manager Robert Nisbet told the council that they plan to add a Magnolia Avenue crosswalk to the city’s capital improvement project list at the next project workshop. From there, the council can decide when to fund it, and city staff will analyze what needs to be done to add the crosswalk. 

The council is expected to review data again early next year to evaluate the impact from the completed roundabouts at Hollister Avenue and the Highway 217 ramp intersections. The roundabouts are set to be completed later this summer.