A Goleta section of Cathedral Oaks Road between Calle Real and Winchester Circle has been closed since Feb. 4 because of storm damage, and it could be closed for a while.

The closure forces drivers to detour down Calle Real and Winchester Canyon Road to the opposite end of the closure.

The main damage is to the 40-foot crib wall-style retaining wall, which was built to support the road and the bike path. The earth behind the wall is eroding because of intense winter storms in recent years, according to the Goleta Public Works Department.

The same stretch of road was closed for several months in 2017 because of storm damage to the crib wall and slope erosion.

The city is hiring an engineering firm to redesign the slope and new retaining walls, which will be a “complex and expensive” project, according to Public Works.

This winter’s storms caused sinkholes to portions of the bike path in the area, causing damage to the path and a nearby slope, according to the city.

There are no visible sinkholes in the road, but ongoing testing will determine if there are voids in the soil beneath the road that could result in sinkholes, according to Michael Winnewisser, assistant engineer for the City of Goleta.

He said the city won’t know the full extent of the damage until it hires a consultant to investigate the damage to the wall, road and bike path. The city is expecting to hire a consultant sometime this spring. 

Once the investigation is complete, Public Works staff will have a better sense of how long repairs will take, Winnewisser said. Repairs are not expected to result in significant changes to Cathedral Oaks Road.