Relief for Bikers in Romero Canyon

By 2016, bicyclists should be saying sayonara to the slippery spots of roadway on Bella Vista Lane near the Romero Canyon trailhead in Montecito, as the County of Santa Barbara — which already erected signs warning cyclists of the dangers posed by algae — is moving toward fixing the notoriously dicey turn as part of a settlement with a biker who sued the county after breaking her hip there in 2010. Starting this summer, when the water stops flowing, the county Public Works Department will be improving the crossing’s drainage, but the real work will commence in 2015, when a $2.9 million grant will pay for a complete replacement. That project is in the design phase now.