Starting in early August, drivers along one of Santa Barbara’s busiest roads should expect months of construction-related traffic as the city replaces aging wastewater infrastructure.
The Via Lucero Wastewater Force Main Replacement Project will transition from nighttime to daytime construction on August 4 as city crews work to replace a 1950s-era wastewater force main. Between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., temporary lane shifts, closures, and detours should be expected along North Hope Avenue, Via Lucero, and upper State Street.
Funded through monthly sewer service fees paid by the city’s Wastewater Fund, the $4.8 million project is expected to be completed by December. Once finished, it will improve the reliability of the city’s gravity sewers, manholes, and other essential wastewater infrastructure.
Unlike a typical sewer, a force main is a pressurized sewer pipe that moves wastewater over long distances or uphill. It’s an essential part of the wastewater system, but the existing Via Lucero force main has reached the end of its nearly 70-year life and is being replaced to reduce the risk of sewer spills and maintenance costs. Overall, approximately 2,700 feet of sewer infrastructure will be replaced.
The importance of replacing aging underground infrastructure has been made apparent by the several high-profile water main breaks in the Los Angeles area earlier this month. Those include the 110-year-old Sunset Trunk Line rupturing and flooding Sunset Strip in West Hollywood with thousands of gallons of water and a six-inch water main installed in 1921 breaking near Santa Monica Boulevard.
During construction on the Via Lucero project, no sewer service will be interrupted, and driveway access will be maintained for businesses and residents. However, traffic impacts will vary as construction moves through each phase of the project.
The first four weeks will involve lane shifts on North Hope Avenue, with crews working in the middle of the roadway and traffic moving on either side of the work zone. Project Engineer Heidi Braunger said the city does not anticipate delays or detours during that time.
“As the work turns onto Via Lucero and occupies the intersection at N. Hope Avenue and Via Lucero, flaggers will be utilized to close N. Hope Ave. down to one lane,” she said. “A 5- to 10-minute delay can be anticipated in both directions on N. Hope Avenue while trenching across the intersection during that week.”
Once work moves onto Via Lucero, the road will be closed to through traffic beginning at the Wells Fargo driveway, with drivers directed to Sunset Road between La Cumbre Road and N. Hope Avenue for roughly three weeks.
Later phases will include one-way traffic along Via Lucero, with Maricopa Drive and Bodega Lane serving as detour routes for about three weeks. And during the final two weeks of construction, traffic in front of the Via Lucero Lift Station will be slowed.
“Traffic will be impacted to some degree during all phases of construction between the daytime hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.,” Braunger said. “Please note that all these durations are subject to change depending on the challenges of construction.”
Braunger explained that the force main does not have individual sewer connections but rather conveys wastewater from the Via Lucero Lift Station — the wastewater pumping facility next to 3944 State Street moves sewage — uphill to N. Hope Avenue, where it connects to a gravity sewer main that carries flow to State Street.
“Roughly 550 parcels are served by the sewer basin that is pumped via the Via Lucero Lift Station,” she said.
Work began approximately four weeks ago, and the lower gravity sewer main connection at the intersection of N. Hope Avenue and State Street is currently being completed. Once crews clear the State Street intersection, work will continue north along N. Hope Avenue before turning onto Via Lucero.
For more project information, visit santabarbaraca.gov/ViaLucero.
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