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Victor Maccharoli- President of COAST Eva Inbar rides her bike on the new Mission Street bike lanes which were unveiled by the City Monday afternoon.

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Mission Street bike lane officially opens

By COLBY FRAZIER — April 7, 2009

With an occasional bicyclist zooming past, city of Santa Barbara officials yesterday celebrated the completion of a $1.5 million project along Mission Street near the Highway 101 under crossing that features improved sidewalks and bike lanes.

The street is a major thoroughfare for bikers and pedestrians looking to get from the Westside to downtown.

And for too long, local cyclists say the narrow road and lack of bike lanes along the busy street created a dangerous situation for cars, walkers and bicyclists.

“This has been a major headache for a lot of folks for decades,” said Wilson Hubbell, vice president of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, adding that he feels the bike lanes are a “life saver.”

Browning Allen, the city’s transportation, streets and parking manager, said the project was a decade in the making, and was made possible with a $1.3 million state grant. The remaining $200,000 came from the city’s allotment of Measure D funds.

In one way or another, the project makes traveling the street, which passes beneath a railroad crossing and highway crossing, safer for everyone.

Eva Inbar, president of COAST (Coalition for Sustainable Transportation), said the sidewalks were dangerous because they were narrow and hugged the traffic lane too closely.

The sidewalks also lacked ramps, or curb cuts, which forced anyone in a wheelchair unable to get over the curb to travel the block between San Pascual Street and the Highway 101 on and off ramps in the road.

“I had to get in the street,” said Bonnie Elliott, a wheelchair user who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years. “It was really dangerous.”

While the bike lanes greatly improve safety for bikers, Santa Barbara city councilmember Grant House said the road is wider as well, which has improved traffic conditions.

In order to make room for the wider sidewalk and bike lanes, Allen said engineers cut into the dirt slope on the shoulders. As a result, a retaining wall was built along each side, and native vegetation was planted to improve the area’s aesthetics.

He said nets were placed beneath the train under crossing to reduce the number of pigeons that roost there, and improvements were made to nearby traffic signals.

Bike lane or not, the section of Mission Street between Modoc Road and Castillo Street have long been known as a route connecting east and west.

Hubbell said a number of agencies and cycling Web sites direct cyclists to Mission Street. He said a common bike route used by the cycling community travels along Modoc or Castillo, where heavily used bike lanes already exist, with Mission Street as the connecting artery.

Before the bike lanes, Hubbell said cyclists would have to use the traffic lane. If there happened to be a red light at the lowest elevation, beneath the train and highway under crossing, he said it was slow going up the hill, and cars would often lose patience, creating a stressful situation for everyone involved.

“This has been a missing link for a long, long time,” he said “One down, a few more to go.”

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Where was SB when the fwy was widened? : 4/7/2009

The bike lanes are indeed a great addition. But what is puzzling is why this section of roadway was never widened to allow for 2 through lanes in each direction as well as right and left turn pockets and bike lanes and sidewalks. The offer was made by CalTrans to widen all three under crossings (Mission, Carrillo and Castillo) when the freeway was widened to 6 lanes, but the city turned the offer down stating that it wasn’t worth the money and they didn’t want to “encourage” more traffic. So as with all the loopy thinking that goes on here, we got the traffic anyway without the improvements. Just a little reality check for the city that loves to celebrate its utter lack of achievement.

AN50

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Yeah : 4/7/2009

Yeah to the City for making it safer for people on 2 wheels (bikes/wheel chairs) to get around.

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Obsolete Bridge, Ramp and Pump Plant ignored again : 4/7/2009

The City just spent 10 years and over $2.5 MILLION on a 2-block-long bike lane, while the Mission UC Pump Plant may not work in a flood and the Undercrossing is , and the biggest danger remains- the SB Off-ramp still overflows onto the highway in AM. Caltrans tried to replace the pump plant in 2007, but canceled after the bid. Has anyone noticed how the 101 rides when you cross the bridge? ...like the back side of the moon... after 19 years of Measure D money.

CarsAreBasic.org

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Safer? Designed by sociologists at Planning Department? : 4/7/2009

Two whole bicyclists on the photo- congratulations. How is it safer when the biker in the photo can't even stay in her lane? and they frequently run the red lights? Bikes are great- but on Mission Street?!? And how are they going to trim the poor tree- close a lane under the bridge, or wait until a truck hits it? At least they realized that the bench was stupid and removed it after sbcag.com posted the photo. This is not funny- it's our money being wasted by a bloated staff of 12 expensive Traffic Planners that were 1 or 2 people when the project design began according to Browning Allen.

SBCAG.COM

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