Stoplights on Highway 217 are again a possibility. Formation of the new City of Goleta and actions by the Goleta City Council and the Goleta Old Town Project Area Committee (GOTPAC) have reopened this issue, which had seemed resolved after workshops held in the Fall of 2001.

During the Fall of 2001, Caltrans led workshops intended to resolve disputes among all Highway 217 stakeholders, including representatives from Goleta. Everyone at those workshops agreed on a compromise solution that did not disrupt traffic flow on Highway 217. Under this plan, road access for extensive commercial growth planned south of Goleta Old Town, near the defunct drive-in theater, would be handled by ramps on the southbound side of 217 and by upgrades to Hollister Avenue.

The incorporation of the City of Goleta officially took place on Feb. 1, 2002. Authority for the coordination of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on Highway 217 changes moved from Santa Barbara County to the City of Goleta at that time. The City Council of Goleta then asked the GOTPAC, which oversees Goleta Old Town redevelopment, to re-visit traffic issues in Goleta Old Town and to recommend a broad range of alternative traffic designs to be considered in the EIR.

At four meetings during the Summer of 2002, the GOTPAC threw out the compromise solution, and resurrected designs which include stop lights, a roundabout, or a full interchange on Highway 217. The GOTPAC judged that the compromise solution did not handle truck traffic from the new commercial growth well, and preferred that new truck traffic use Highway 217 instead of the surface streets in Old Town. No quantitative studies of truck traffic volumes, existing or planned, have been conducted to date, largely because concern over truck traffic had not arisen in the hundreds of meetings so far.

The Goleta City Council has argued that the formal incorporation of the City of Goleta had not occurred by the time of the Fall, 2001, workshops, so there is no reason for the new City to adhere to the compromise solution reached at those workshops. The City has made these assertions despite the participation of two City Council members, four members of the Old Town PAC, and the President of the Goleta Chamber of Commerce during the Fall, 2001 workshops. Representatives of UCSB, Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara Airport, SBCAG, and Caltrans also participated.

The Goleta City Council will now decide on the range of options to be analyzed in the EIR. They will hold public hearings between now and the end of this year prior to reaching a decision. They will consider the recommendations of the Goleta Old Town PAC, but the City Council has the power to add or delete options. After completion of the EIR, probably some time in 2004, the City Council will choose one intended project from the options analyzed in the EIR.

Should the City Council choose stoplights, they must obtain approval from the California Transportation Commission (the CTC). The CTC has indicated a preference for solutions that are acceptable both to UCSB and to the local government.

Anyone interested in commenting on the options, which will surely include stoplights on Highway 217, should plan to attend the appropriate Goleta City Council hearings during the next few months.

The UCSB Highway 217 Committee, chaired by Scott Cooper and myself, will continue to monitor the issue, and we will post notices of the relevant upcoming meetings when the dates and topics are known. The Goleta City Council meetings in the next few months will be crucial for determining the future of Highway 217.

There is now a considerable body of information about the consequences of many options for modifying Highway 217. The Fall, 2001 workshops culminated in the publication of a 218-page report that is now available at local Public Libraries and at UCSB's Davidson library. The report's title is 'SR 217/Goleta Old Town Infrastructure Improvements.' The report is also available on-line.

The following information is abstracted from that report:

• The compromise solution would result in 10 to 15 fewer serious injury accidents annually on Hollister and Highway 217 than would options with stoplights or roundabouts on the 217.
  
  
• The development plans for the vicinity of Old Town will cause about 40,000 new car trips per day; with about 4,500 of the new trips occurring during rush hour. The magnitude of this new traffic is comparable to the traffic generated by the entire existing UCSB/IV community.
  
  
• The growth planned will cause severe congestion at intersections along Los Carneros, Fairview, and Patterson Avenues, regardless of which modification is made to the 217.
  
  
• None of the options studied so far significantly reduce traffic levels on that portion of Hollister Avenue in central Goleta Old Town, between Pine and Kellogg Avenues. This portion of Hollister serves the Valley Voice, the Santa Cruz Market, the Hamburger Habit, and the Goleta Valley Community Center. A prime goal of the 217 modifications had been to reduce traffic on Hollister in central Goleta Old Town, however, no option studied so far outperforms the existing road system.
  
  
• The planned growth in and near Old Town will exacerbate afternoon rush-hour congestion at the intersection of Highways 217 and 101. Local jurisdictions like the City of Goleta bear no responsibility for analyzing congestion on a State-owned road like Highway 101, and no responsibility for mitigating that congestion.