Eastside residents might not get a bridge over Highway 101 to the beach after all.
The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday hit pause on a plan to pursue a grant to fund a pedestrian and bicycle overcrossing, a proposal that has been in the works for several years.
The bridge would begin at south Canada and Pitos streets, cross over Highway 101 and then land on the Santa Barbara Zoo parking lot and eventually end near Dwight Murphy Field.
“There is not a lot of open space on the Eastside,” said Jessica Grant, supervising transportation planner. “This is a time when we can have an overcrossing to get to the waterfront area, to the Zoo, the recreation fields, the entire waterfront and jobs, as well as a route to Santa Barbara City College.”
But on Tuesday, some council members questioned whether the Eastside had more immediate priorities, and even whether the city should apply for a grant to help fund proposed changes on State Street.
In addition, City Administrator Kelly McAdoo said that she has had talks with the zoo about a housing project it wants to build, prompting concerns among some council members about a potential loss of parking with the bridge project.
Councilmember Wendy Santamaria supports the idea of a pedestrian and bicycle connection to the beach.
“I really don’t want to lose sight of the sometimes lack of equity the Eastside faces, and we have noted that the Eastside has the longest commute to get to the waterfront,” Santamaria said. “They are cut off the most from the waterfront.”
Grant said parts of the Eastside were disconnected from the waterfront after the California Department of Transportation removed stoplights from the area in 1991, allowing traffic on Highway 101 to flow through uninterrupted. Grant and city planning staff want to apply for an Active Transportation Program design grant to start the estimated $40 million bridge project. The city would have to pay 1% of the cost, or $400,000.
McAdoo said the zoo housing proposal is in very preliminary talks, but if approved, it would be raised on top of the surface parking lot.
Santamaria, a housing advocate, also supports the idea of housing at the zoo.
“I would love to see a world where we can complete this bridge project and the zoo’s housing project together,” she said.
About two years ago, the City Council performed community outreach on the bridge project, which was met with widespread support from Eastside residents. But no one showed up at City Hall on Tuesday to talk about the proposal, which concerned some council members.
Still, Grant defended the need for the project.
She said it is the latest effort by the city to improve safety on the Eastside, including new lighting, traffic signals, and sidewalk and bike path improvements.
“We have had millions of dollars in the past dedicated for the Eastside, specifically for safety and Safe Routes to School, and it is continuing,” Grant said.
Safety enhancements include improved sidewalks leading to Franklin, Adelante and Cleveland elementary schools, she said.
“We have many high rates of walking and biking,” Grant said. “We need to have destinations, whether you are going to school or work, for everyone to arrive safely. It has been on top of mind for a long time, and we are continuing to make progress.”
“With funding, you can’t cast an umbrella and fix everything in one day,” Grant said. “We are a decade into millions of dollars in infrastructure on the Eastside.”
Although grant requests from the same jurisdiction to the ATP aren’t competitive with one another, Santamaria raised concerns about also submitting a funding request for State Street.
“I have very serious concerns about us as a council giving direction to essentially prioritize investment on State Street vs. investment on the Eastside,” Santamaria said. “I don’t think they should be pitted against each other. If we are to say we will not invest in this overcrossing and we will not improve equity on the Eastside, and instead we want to apply for the grant for State Street, it is just sending a very clear message to Eastside residents that the priority is State Street.”
She said as the district representative for the Eastside, “I don’t feel comfortable at all in making that tradeoff or sending that message to constituents.”
The council directed staff to do more outreach to the public and talk to zoo officials about the housing project, and then return for a vote on the bridge funding sometime in June, before the deadline to submit the application.
“This is something the people of the Eastside definitely need to be reminded about,” Councilman Oscar Gutierrez said. “This is something I feel they will take extremely seriously.”
Gutierrez said the bridge is needed. He knows of children who have grown up on the Eastside who have never been to the beach.
“Having grown up there with friends and family, it is very difficult to get to the beach from there,” Gutierrez said. “I find this extremely important.”
The council also voted Tuesday to move forward with a grant application to fund widened, separated sidewalks and bike paths on Castillo Street under Highway 101 and near Pershing Park. That project is expected to cost about $15 million, which means a $150,000 match from the city.
