UCSB Working with Supervisor Marshall on Highway 217 Issues

UCSB is pleased to be working with the County of Santa Barbara on issues related to the proposed revitalization of Goleta Old Town and associated changes to Ward Memorial Boulevard (Highway 217). County and University staff currently are arranging joint meetings to examine alternative designs for Highway 217 and to discuss the impacts of the proposed highway changes on UCSB.

Highway 217 has served as the major connection between UCSB and the greater South Coast area for the last 36 years. The Goleta Old Town Revitalization Plan calls for placing two intersections with stop lights on Highway 217 between Hollister Avenue and Sandspit Road. Although UCSB supports the revitalization of Goleta Old Town, many UCSB faculty, staff, and students have expressed strong concerns about the proposed changes to Highway 217.

Both campus concerns and the absence of analyses of impacts of proposed changes on connections between UCSB and the South Coast area prompted Chancellor Yang to set up the Highway 217 Review Committee. This Committee has reviewed numerous documents, held many meetings, and hired traffic and urban planning consultants to examine the plan's impacts on UCSB; has worked with local government and citizens' groups to find solutions to mutual problems; and has kept the campus informed about developments related to this plan. In addition, the Committee has worked with its traffic consultant, the HNTB Corporation of Irvine, CA, and a noted urban planner, Professor Barton Myers of UCLA, to develop alternative highway designs that serve Goleta Old Town without impeding traffic flows on Highway 217. Throughout its deliberations the Committee has striven to be objective, rigorous, and apolitical.

The University's consultants have stated that placing stop lights on Highway 217 will increase accident rates and impede traffic flow, as well as compromise the University's connections to the City of Santa Barbara and points farther east. In addition, the Committee has received numerous messages from faculty and staff expressing strong opposition to stop lights on Highway 217. As a result of these consultations, the Committee has concluded that stoplights on Highway 217 will have strong negative effects on connections between UCSB and the greater South Coast community.

The University's traffic consultant also has provided detailed plans for alternative highway designs without stoplights that serve both UCSB and Goleta Old Town. Committee members have been meeting with County staff to discuss the University's concerns and the contents of the consultant's reports.

In an open letter to Chancellor Yang, dated February 29, 2000, Third District Supervisor Gail Marshall recognized that stop lights on Highway 217 were unacceptable to the University and instructed County personnel to meet with University personnel to design Highway 217 changes which Òmeet the needs of UCSB and the community for safe and efficient travel on Highway 217". In addition, she assured Chancellor Yang that ÒCounty personnel will work with University personnel to develop a Highway 217 design that is acceptable to the University, while achieving the goals of the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Plan".

"The Committee views this commitment as a genuine shift in position that is immensely positive and looks forward to working with the County and community leaders on solutions to common problems", said Professor Scott Cooper, Chair of the UCSB Highway 217 Review Committee. "We will work vigorously until the Highway 217 issues, including the stop lights, have been completely resolved, but we appreciate the flexibility the County has shown in recent weeks. I honestly believe that we are now working together, something I would not have said in December."