Caltrans Project Postponed
A Caltrans project to replace the guardrail on the Olive Mill Road freeway bridge, along with other improvements, has been postponed until after Labor Day, according to Caltrans Transportation engineer Tristan Gebhart. The project, which was originally scheduled to begin in May, and then was pushed back until late July, will require four to five months of construction along with a significant detour for traffic headed from northern Montecito to the beach.
At a meeting with stakeholders in late June, Gebhart and Caltrans Construction engineer Jason Kline fielded questions about the project from City and County leaders, members of the Coast Village Association (CVA) Traffic & Safety Committee, and reps from the Four Seasons Biltmore and the new mixed-use project currently in construction on the corner of Olive Mill and Coast Village roads.
The project includes reinforcing the bridge to accommodate newer, heavier guardrails, and eliminating the eastern sidewalk and widening the sidewalk on the west side of the bridge. The first week of the undertaking will include overnight highway closures for four nights, and the following week daytime detours and traffic control will begin. Crews will be on site for 12-hour shifts Monday through Friday and 10-hour shifts on Saturdays. There will be detours to accommodate one lane of travel over the bridge; drivers traveling to Butterfly Beach from Coast Village Road will be directed to enter the southbound freeway, exit at San Ysidro, and will be detoured onto S. Jameson and Danielson to Olive Mill. “The detour will be ’round the clock, and not just during work hours,” Kline explained.
CVA president Bob Ludwick, who hosted the meeting with stakeholders, urged Caltrans to reconsider the timing of the project, given that Coast Village Road and surrounding businesses suffered significant losses during and following the January mudslide, and should be given an opportunity to recover before a project of this magnitude begins. “We know we are in the heart of town, and you have been through the ringer already,” Kline said. Reps from the Four Seasons Biltmore also urged reconsideration, as the hotel was closed for five months until reopening on June 1. The resort is booked every weekend throughout the summer, and guests visiting from Southern California would be detoured after exiting Olive Mill, to get back on the freeway going south. “We will do our best to mitigate that issue by having signage on the freeway, directing people to exit San Ysidro instead,” Kline offered.
It was suggested that the project be delayed until next summer, but Kline explained the funding that has been secured to pay for the endeavor is through an emergency grant, which expires at the end of 2018. Instead, reps for the project decided at a meeting last week that they would delay the project until later in the summer, with falsework under the structure occurring in late August and the traffic control measures ensuing immediately after Labor Day, September 3.
“It is understood that the community has been through a very challenging start to 2018, and we hope that the decision to delay until after Labor Day will better facilitate enjoyment of the summer tourist season,” Gebhart wrote in an email to stakeholders. Montecito Inn owner Jason Copus said the postponement is vital to his business. “Had the project occurred during the summer months, the hotel would have suffered great financial burdens. With the new revised schedule, our guests and the community will be able to enjoy the surrounding area to its fullest this summer,” he said.
As part of the project, Caltrans will add flaggers to one or more intersections at San Ysidro Road during school drop-off hours, as there is likely to be more traffic in the area with the detoured vehicles adding to Miramar construction traffic.
The Coast Village Association will have updates on the project when it commences on its website, www.coastvillageroad.com.
