Construction will begin on the Mission Street Paving Project on Monday as part of the Fiscal Year 2019-B Pavement Maintenance Project, the city of Santa Barbara announced in a news release.
The construction will be repaving Mission Street from the Highway 101 to State Street. It will upgrade access ramps, repair sidewalks curbs and gutters, replace failing traffic signals and smooth out dips. The city warned that drivers should expect delays, detours and reduced speed zones when driving through the construction site.
Construction will continue through September, though there will also be weekend work to lessen impacts in high-traffic areas.
More specifically, the access ramps will be upgraded to meet the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, according to the project overview on the Santa Barbara government website. The pedestrian walkways on the Mission and De La Vina Street intersection will be shortened, which will allow for easier navigation. In addition, trees will be planted “along the corridor.”
“All of these improvements will enhance the corridor and improve both pedestrian and vehicular accessibility,” the project overview stated.
“Mission Street is a bigger portion of the 2019-B Pavement Maintenance Project,” Max Kashanian, project engineer, said to the News-Press. The Mission Street Paving Project is nicknamed “Mission Possible.”
“We named it that because it’s going to be difficult to carry out,” Mr. Kashanian said, which he attributed to the high use of the street, along with the wide scope of the project. He says they planned the project with “least disruption” in mind. They won’t close the road during the week and will close one lane at a time. They will also work during the weekend and will close the street during that time.
“Traffic will be flowing, but there will be traffic congestion,” Mr. Kashanian said, adding that navigating the street would be “a bit difficult.”
There were two maintenance projects going on in Santa Barbara this year, with the first one taking place earlier this year, which cost $6.5 million, according to Mr. Kashanian. They still have to finish a portion of that project, which involves striping. Striping will begin on July 15.
Mr. Kashanian said that they hoped to be finished with it in line with the schedule, but cautioned that “that things happen.”
“We’re going to try to keep to schedule, but things happen,” Mr. Kashanian said, pointing out that other work will be occurring at the same time. “We try to keep to the schedule and we hope that we’ll go through with it without a hitch.”
Concrete construction will also occur on Los Olivos Street from Laguna Street to Mission Canyon Road in early August after the Old Spanish Days Fiesta celebrations. Pavement replacement will occur in late September, according to the news release.
The Mission Street Paving Project is expected to cost $2.5 million. This project is funded by the state gas tax (SB1), which will contribute $1.5 million and local Measure C funds will contribute $1 million, according to a project overview paper on the Santa Barbara government website. The 2019-B Pavement Maintenance Project is expected to cost $7 million, according to Mr. Kashanian.
For more information on the project and to stay updated, go to SantaBarbaraCA.gov/MissionStreetPaving.
