Come next winter, Santa Barbara residents may no longer be
sloshing through the Westside’s famous flooded intersections. The
first phase of the Westside storm drain project in the late 1990s
resulted in Harding School’s footbridge over Robbins Street. The
second and final phase is slated to commence TK and last for eight
months, with workers installing five-foot-wide storm drains to
replace the existing 24-inch drains. The changes will begin at
Chino and Micheltorena streets and move eastward. Lash Construction
employees will work block by block to minimize inconvenience to
residents, with each block taking about two weeks to complete.
Announced with fanfare by 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal
and Mayor Marty Blum, the storm drain replacement is a cooperative
project between the city and the county, with the latter
shouldering 75 percent of the $4.7 million cost.
