Santa Barbara’s historic Mission Canyon Bridge is one of the city’s visual treasures.
The stone arch bridge and “stegosaurus” were built in 1891. It survived the 1925 earthquake, and was widened in 1930. A pedestrian bridge was added nearby in 1929.
But today, the bridge is showing its age. According to a city-sponsored study, however, the bridge is “functionally obsolete” and in need of repair.
It doesn’t meet current earthquake standards. In the event of a magnitude-7.2 earthquake, the stone walls are expected to loosen and force the collapse of the stone arch over Mission Creek.
At the same time, city officials have strong concerns about Mission Canyon Road above. They would like to make the curvy roadway near the bridge safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.
So the question is, how does Santa Barbara upgrade the bridge, without affecting its historic nature, and improve the roadway above? Or should it even try at all?
It’s such a Santa Barbara problem, where historic preservation clashes with evolving, modern-day lifestyles.
If you ask Lanny Ebenstein, an economics lecturer at UC Santa Barbara, a former member of the Santa Barbara Unified School District board of education and a longtime Mission Canyon resident, there’s no reason to dramatically alter the bridge.
“What an abomination,” he said. “There’s just no other way to talk about this. It is an abomination.”
Ebenstein spoke at Wednesday’s Historic Landmarks Commission meeting, when the bridge and road proposal went before the commission for a concept review. The commission looked at three different ideas for the bridge and three different ideas for the road above it.
According to Ebenstein, there’s no compelling evidence that there are traffic or safety concerns on the curvy road, and the safety is a “very low traffic priority” for the city.
“The notion that one of the most significant historical bridges in California, in Santa Barbara, is going to be torn down for traffic reasons, that is just not true,” he said.
For the most part, the commissioners agreed. The issue is early in the planning stages, so there was no formal vote or action.
The commission did express concern about altering the bridge too much while indicating it should be safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, including a need for a pedestrian path between the Santa Barbara Mission, at 2201 Laguna St., and the nearby Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History at 2559 Puesta del Sol.
The commissioners also were not inclined to alter the rural, curvy nature of Mission Canyon Road, instead expressing interest in low-impact visual deterrents that would convince drivers to slow down.
In the end, they leaned toward strengthening the existing bridge, with as little change as possible.
“It is seen as as a very valuable resource for the area and part of the whole cultural landscape that exists,” commission chairman Anthony Grumbine said. “Maybe we just leave it as we want the bridge as it is in terms of design and shape.”
The city presented three roadway proposals, with a list of pros and cons. Under Proposal A, the roadway and bridge would be widened equally on both sides, to increase driver sight distance, with 5-foot bike lanes and 6-foot pedestrian pathways in each direction.
Under Proposal B, the roadway would be widened, the bridge would be rehabilitated or replaced to increase driver sight distance, 5-foot bike lanes would be added, and a partial 6-foot pedestrian path would be constructed on the east side of the road. A 10-foot wide pedestrian bridge would be added on the west side.
Under Proposal C, the bridge would be rehabilitated or replaced, a 6-foot path would be constructed on the east side, 5-foot bike lanes would be added and minor roadway alignment improvements would be made.
One of the bridge proposals calls for widening the arch and another calls for creating two arches to stabilize the bridge and wall.
All three projects would require the removal of sycamore trees.
Karl Hutterer, a board member of the Mission Heritage Trails Association and the retired executive director of the natural history museum, has lived near the Mission Canyon Bridge for more than two decades.
“I am intimately familiar with the problems that traffic corridor has and the pervasive fears so many people who use it express for the safety,” he told the commission.
He also noted he is “passionately committed” to historic preservation.
“I am grateful that the city has accepted the responsibility for finding a solution to what has been a vexing problem of aligning historic preservation with the needs of a hugely expanding population for some 75 years,” Hutterer said. “The only solution I would find unacceptable would be to do nothing.”
The Mission Heritage Trails Association for the past decade has been in support of safety improvements and preservation within the Mission Canyon corridor. The nonprofit organization has led efforts to rehabilitate the bridge and make a safer roadway.
Commissioner Michael Drury, while supporting expansion of the walkway on the bridge’s east side, said the less the city does to the roadway the better.
“The realignment or smoothing out the curves into the Mission Creek Bridge will just make it a raceway,” he said.
— 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.