The New State Street Undercrossing Officially Opens in Santa Barbara
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif – After years of planning and about 18 months of work, the new look to the State Street undercrossing has now been celebrated.
City leaders, bike riders, construction crews and business owners have come together to make the project possible as a way to accomplish many goals.
It will reduce vehicle speeds, improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, and serve as a gateway to the downtown promenade in one direction and the waterfront and Funk Zone in the other with the goal of making the area more attractive and stimulating economic activity.
The undercrossing is right underneath Hwy 101, and was originally built as part of the crosstown freeway project in the early 1990’s.
It was however, identified as a place where the city was seeing too many crashes.
Santa Barbara City Administrator Kelly McAdoo said, “vehicles colliding with pedestrians crossing State at Gutierrez and vehicles colliding with bicycles actually traveling under the undercrossing.”
The latest work is expected to provide a better balance for all of the uses in that area.
Santa Barbara City Councilmember Wendy Santamaria has a district that covers parts of State Street and also the Funk Zone. “I’m very confident that it’s going to help bring a lot more vitality also to the downtown, and allowing folks to be able to access our State Street and access our downtown, not necessarily with a car.”
A regular walker James Stevenson said he likes the project and has watched the workers over the last several months. He said, “what they’ve done is they’ve given more sidewalks. You didn’t have enough space before. And we have so many people that are coming off the trains and so on. ” He said the area needs to have regular power washing on the sidewalk and the nearby staircase up to the parking lot.
Councilmember Oscar Gutierrez said, there will be economic benefits in both directions. “It’s going to be a welcome attraction for people to come out of the waterfront into the lower State Street area. As you know, we need all the help we can get.”
The project is part of the city’s Vision Zero program, to eliminate fatal accidents.
The project went through many public hearings at various City boards and commissions. That including the Historic Landmarks Commission, Streets Tree Advisory Committee, Parks and Recreation Commission, and Transportation Circulation Committee. The Project also went before the County Arts Commission. Artistic metal designs were created by Jeff and David Shelton.
“Who wants to go under a freeway? Loud noise on the freeway. So very simple. I stood here for a couple of days watching people,” said Jeff Shelton. The art designer and architect said the project has a flow to it. “So it’s got that a-b, a-c, a-b rhythm. It’s not just one, one, one all the way through. Especially if you show up on a sunny day and you see the shadows change all day long. ” He specifically said the sunlight through the flowers will be impressive.
“The Sheltons are living legends. So we’re really lucky to have them in our community and have them work on a project like this,” said Gutierrez.
A city reports says: The Project will widen sidewalks on each side of the street from eight feet to 15 feet. On-street bike lanes will be increased from five to seven feet in width and will have a two- to three-foot protected buffer. The new roadway configuration includes one vehicle lane in each direction, a painted median for emergency access, and reconfigured turn lanes at both Yanonali and Gutierrez Streets. Additional enhancements include new pedestrian safety lighting and protective railings, reconstructed bridge columns to improve safety and aesthetics, new plantings in the upper planters, irrigation repairs, street tree removal and replacement, and modifications to the intersections at State and Gutierrez Streets and State and Yanonali Streets to reduce crossing distances for pedestrians.
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