Two automobiles crashed Monday morning when one rear-ended the other along Hollister Avenue in Old Town Goleta, the site of hundreds of accidents over the years. The vehicles collided around 7:49 a.m. near Rutherford Street, said Raquel Zick, spokesperson for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. No pedestrians or bicyclists were involved, and no one was injured, she said.
The six blocks of Old Town have come under scrutiny, after the City of Goleta reduced vehicle travel from two lanes to a single lane in each direction, hoping to encourage slower speeds for pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Since the restriping project began in July, bitter complaints of traffic delays abound, compounded by congestion from two bridge construction projects, both over San Jose Creek — one on Hollister and one at Highway 101.
According to the city, since 2017, Old Town has experienced four times the average collision rate for the state, and three times the average accident rate involving injured pedestrians or cyclists. The three-year Project Connect is intended to create a greater neighborhood feeling along what was once a major thoroughfare, along with the coming completion of roadways, sidewalks, and bike lanes of Ekwill and Fowler in the industrial area to the south.
Represented by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a number of business owners attended a council meeting last month, many wearing the same orange and gray T-shirts. Hispanic Chamber Foundation president Jacqui Inda asked the council to work with them through the Economic Development Subcommittee to slow the construction process down. Phebe Mansur, who owns CopyRight, said her business was down 70 percent and she couldn’t pay the rent if that continued. As the comment period closed, one restaurant owner yelled that his business was dying.
Alongside these economic complaints were speakers who praised how the bike lanes and slower traffic speeds had added to pedestrian safety, asking the counsel to let the data be gathered to measure if the project was effective.
Old Town was not on that night’s agenda, but Mayor Paula Perotte said she would make time to speak with anyone about the issue. Asked recently if any meetings had taken place, Perotte said neither the chamber nor restaurant owners had contacted her.
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