John Patton, Director, S.B. County Planning & Development
S.B. INDEPENDENT

In recent months, residents of Goleta and the South Coast may have seen newspaper articles, television news stories and editorial opinions discussing the controversy surrounding the County's proposal to convert Ward Memorial Drive (Hwy. 217) from a freeway to an expressway, similar to Los Positas Road south of Modoc Road. The controversy centers on the 2 proposed "at-grade" signalized intersections of Hwy. 217 at the new extensions of Ekwill and Fowler Roads. Given the sometimes fiery rhetoric and serious allegations raised over the last 6 months by the University community, local citizens have a right to know just what issues have brought two public agencies into conflict.

To understand this issue, citizens need to be aware of the project's goals, history and issues raised to date by the University community and the process by which the County and the University hope to resolve this unfortunate conflict.

The proposed Ward Memorial expressway and Ekwill and Fowler Road extension projects have two primary goals. First, to improve east-west circulation to substantially reduce traffic congestion along Hollister Avenue, particularly at its congested intersections with Fairview Ave. and Hwy. 217. Second, to stimulate economic revitalization of Goleta Old Town by providing improved access to areas south of Hollister, including direct access to the airport via Fowler Road from Hwy. 217.

Ward Memorial Boulevard (Hwy. 217) was originally constructed in the 1960s to provide freeway access to the rapidly growing University and the community of Isla Vista. Original plans called for extending this road through the Goleta Slough and up the coast to support urbanization of the Devereux and Ellwood areas and beyond. Environmental impacts of filling the slough and urban sprawl derailed this development project. Thus this freeway, designed to carry 60,000 vehicles per day, was completed only to UCSB's east gate. Today, the freeway carries 17,000 vehicles per day, less than 30% of its rated capacity and far fewer cars than most portions of Hollister Avenue.

In fact, this freeway carries just about the same volume of traffic as the 2 lane portion of Hollister near Modoc Road or the 2 lane portion of Los Carneros south of Hollister. This freeway's very low traffic volumes and the barrier it presents to east-west circulation are what first attracted the attention of traffic engineers to its possible conversion to an expressway.

The shortage of options for east-west circulation in Goleta has long been recognized as a major cause of traffic congestion on Hollister and U.S. 101. The completion of Cathedral Oaks will partially addressed this issue north of U.S. 101. However, the airport, the Goleta slough and areas of protected agricultural land make such improvements more difficult south of U.S. 101. Over nine years ago, the environmental impact report on the Goleta Community Plan identified improved access to Hwy. 217 adjacent to southern Old Town as a means of decreasing Hollister congestion. However, the limited freeway access ("slip ramps") suggested at that time were found to provide only limited congestion relief.

In 1996, after additional traffic studies, the draft Goleta Old Town Revitalization Plan proposed the conversion of the Hwy. 217 freeway to an expressway, with signalized intersections at the new Ekwill and Fowler Roads, as being both technically feasible and necessary to reduce traffic congestion. These studies found that the proposed project would substantially reduce congestion, while causing only a minimal delay (1-2 minutes) for traffic bound for UCSB.

More than 70 public meetings and extensive additional environmental reports on the Revitalization Plan and its associated road improvements were conducted. Additional traffic studies reviewed the impacts of converting the Hwy. 217 freeway to an expressway and possible alternatives, including new interchanges and roundabouts on Hwy. 217. The alternatives were found to be infeasible due to safety and design issues, dramatically increased construction costs and the need to condemn adjacent businesses.

Finally, in July 1998, the County Board of Supervisors adopted the Goleta Old Town Revitalization Plan including the proposed new traffic signals along Hwy. 217 at the new Ekwill and Fowler Road intersections.

These new road projects would not only substantially reduce existing and future Hollister corridor congestion, but would materially advance Old Town revitalization. Diversion of thousands of existing and future trips from Hollister would both reduce congestion and allow for the installation of pedestrian and bike improvements, better sidewalks, more landscaping and center medians, while maintaining Hollister as a four lane arterial-- key community goals.

The Ward Memorial Expressway and Ekwill/Fowler Road project would also facilitate economic redevelopment in southern Old Town, promoting ģinfillī development and assisting in the creation of one to two thousand new jobs over the coming decade, while minimizing the traffic impacts of such redevelopment on Hollister. "Infill" development is a key component of the County's strategy to preserve agricultural land and prevent urban sprawl.

During the preparation of the Revitalization Plan the University did raise some concerns over the this project, but muted their concerns during to the public adoption process. When the County began the implementation of the project in the second half of 1999, the University escalated their opposition raising several concerns regarding the proposed Ward Memorial Expressway project. These range from increased traffic safety hazards, including an alleged 1-2 new traffic fatalities over a 25 year period compared to the existing open freeway, adverse air quality impacts and increased cost to the University community from added travel time. Although additional upcoming traffic studies will shed light on these questions, some of these issues involve trade-offs with no easy answers.

In order to provide every opportunity for review of University and faculty concerns regarding this key infrastructure project, the County has slowed project planning by almost 8 months. During this time period, County officials have met and consulted repeatedly with University faculty, administration and traffic engineers on project design issues. This process produced some preliminary design concepts for consideration which County and University engineers are reviewing to determine if any are feasible. To date this has proven a daunting challenge as these alternative designs appear to raise design and safety issues. Some of these alternatives also may not significantly reduce Hollister traffic congestion.

Lack of direct airport access, substantial increases in project costs and only limited circulation improvements south of Hollister are additional concerns with some of these preliminary design concepts. As part of the project's second full environmental report (due for release within 6 months), the County is committed to reviewing a range of options that might meet both the County and University's goals.

While the County is hopeful that all the needs of the University community can be met, we will be looking at the alternatives from a broader community perspective. For example, on the issue of traffic safety, all agree that open freeways are safer than signalized at-grade intersections. However, if east-west circulation in the Goleta Valley is to be improved and congestion relieved through new access to Ward Memorial, the safety of the type of the intersection is what counts, not comparisons to an open freeway. The safety of the conceptual non-standard interchange alternatives currently under consideration compared to at-grade signalized intersections will be analyzed by all parties.

Regarding air quality and lost time effects, because the currently proposed interchange alternative is projected to prove less effective in reducing regional congestion, the trade-off is whether periodically idling cars at the new Ward Expressway-Ekwill intersection versus several congested Hollister corridor intersections would produce more air pollution and more time wasted in traffic. Regarding project cost, if an alternative project design exceeds the current project budget by more than several million dollars, obtaining additional funding may be a major obstacle.

In the end, the community may need to balance if the benefits of the County's proposals to relieve regional congestion, revitalize Goleta Old Town and promote infill development against the inconvenience of commuters on Hwy. 217 being periodically delayed by 1-2 minutes if they encounter a red signal at Ekwill Road.

In the meantime, the County and University are entertaining a fresh analysis in hopes of resolving the impasse at hand. Following this undertaking, the County will examine all reasonable solutions in the upcoming environmental document.

In conclusion, the County will continue to cooperate with the University in trying to resolve this issue and move this vital congestion relief and revitalization project forward to timely completion. Anything less would be a disservice to the residents of the Goleta Valley.