To the current construction traffic along Hollister Avenue in Goleta’s Old Town will be added a new wrinkle starting Friday, May 9, at the Kellogg Avenue end. The work to replace the bridge over San Jose Creek will switch from the north to the south side. In so doing, left turns at and near State Route 217 will be eliminated in two spots for about a month: Drivers taking the southbound 217 offramp to Hollister Avenue will find they can only turn right at Hollister. And drivers on Ward Drive can only turn right onto Hollister.
As the bridge work moves to the south side, a center-of-the-road barrier will be in place and extend under the 217 overpass. For drivers headed southbound on the 217 and wanting to take the offramp to Hollister, the barrier will prevent left-hand turns. Drivers headed west on Hollister who might want to turn left onto the 217 at that spot must instead go to Fairview, wind around the airport, and pick up the 217 by the beach.
For those headed up Ward Drive, a partial frontage road to the 217, no left turn onto Hollister will be possible. To get to the 217 south, a right turn all the way to Patterson Avenue and then over the overpass to the 217 is recommended.
The detours will remain in place for the month of May, at which time another set of changes will take place. Those details will come out in the coming weeks.
