Truce Declared over Modoc Road Bike Path in Santa Barbara
Fewer Trees to Be Felled, Pathway to Encroach Less on Land Preserve, and Environmentally Sensitive Paving Material to Be Used
The lawsuit over the fate of the Modoc Road Multi-Use Path — better known as a bike lane — appears to be mostly resolved, with design of the controversial bikeway about 35 percent completed.
As part of the settlement agreement, plans for the bikeway — which will bridge a major gap in the South Coast’s network of bike lanes between downtown Santa Barbara and UCSB — have been changed since they were first unveiled to minimize the number of Canary palm and eucalyptus trees along Modoc Road slated for destruction. In addition, county engineers have agreed to construct the new pathway as close to the existing asphalt infrastructure as feasible to avoid encroaching on a land preserve that had been initially secured to prevent any development on the site in perpetuity. County engineers also agreed they would use no “hot mix concrete” in the construction of the pathway but would instead use a more environmentally sensitive paving material suggested by opponents of the pathway.
When word of the proposed bikeway first surfaced, many neighbors responded with alarm at the suddenness of the announcement and the large number of trees — most notably the iconic Canary palms that line the thoroughfare — slated for removal. In addition, critics objected that the meandering pathway initially proposed for the portions of the land preserve violated the no-development restriction imposed on the land easement. That issue remains unresolved with the Land Trust of Santa Barbara still negotiating for with County Public Works officials for permission to encroach.
Last week, County Supervisor Laura Capps convened a public workshop to discuss the pathway — for which the County of Santa Barbara secured a $5.4 million state grant. The county maintains 1,600 miles of roads, Capps noted, but now it needs to fill in what she termed “the missing gap” in the South Coast’s regional bike network. Once the pathway is completed, Capps said, cyclists will be able to ride on segregated pathways from downtown Santa Barbara to Goleta and to Isla Vista and back. Pathways like this, she added, constitute one way the county can address climate change.
