One last mile of bike path will finally be built to connect Isla Vista to Santa Barbara and beyond, a three-year process that involved a water district, land trust, and residents worried about the fate of the beloved Canary Island palms that line Modoc Road.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a construction contract on August 19 for the second and final phase of the Modoc Road Multi-Use bike and pedestrian path, with work set to begin this fall. Phase II of the Modoc project will connect the Obern Trail to the existing pathways across Via Senda in Hope Ranch.
One issue in creating the bike path was the Modoc Preserve. The bike path will run across the preserve, which has a conservation easement with the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, but the land is owned by La Cumbre Mutual Water Company.
To get permission to develop the bike path, the county came to an agreement in November 2024 with the Land Trust to grant protection to more than 35 acres of county-owned land at More Mesa. The agreement also provides an opportunity to expand the native plant restoration at Modoc. For La Cumbre water, the county entered a 34-year lease for a well on county land with the water company.
The county plans to collaborate closely with the community and stakeholders to ensure there are no conflicts between the multi-use path and existing paths or trails. The construction contract reassures neighbors, pedestrians, equestrians, and property owners that preserving the row of historic Canary Palms and protecting the Modoc Preserve will be a first priority.
The Modoc project’s final mile will connect an eight-mile-long Class I (multi-use) network of pathways that reaches from Isla Vista to Arroyo Burro Beach and the City of Santa Barbara. This 10-foot-wide multi-use path aims to provide local connections to schools, beaches, neighborhoods, and UCSB, completing a gap in the Coastal Access Route.
This $6.5 million project also serves to separates pedestrians from Modoc Road, which is a high-speed county road with no continuous ADA-compliant pathways.
“This beautiful path will allow more people to bike, roll and stroll from one part of our community to another — safely. It takes a village to make these projects come to life. I’m grateful to all the partners for sticking with this project and believing in the end goal,” Board Chair Laura Capps said.
The first phase of construction was completed in August 2023, and the second phase is set to begin in October.
