Safety Enhancements Coming to Chapala Street

Source: City of Santa Barbara

As part of the City’s Vision Zero Strategy and Streets Pavement Maintenance Project, the City will repave and incorporate new safety features on Chapala Street between Sola and Mission Streets in late 2021. There will be a webinar on June 16 to share details and answer questions about the project.

Register for the Chapala Street Repaving and Vision Zero Project Webinar:
Public Works Staff will host a ZOOM webinar on Wednesday, June 16, at 5:30PM to share details and answer questions about the project. To register for the webinar, please click on the following link: Register for the Chapala Street Repaving and Vision Zero Project Webinar

Why this project?
In 2018, City Council adopted the Santa Barbara Vision Zero Strategy, a strategy to eliminate all traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries, while increasing safe, healthy, and equitable mobility for all. The majority of traffic-related deaths and serious injuries in Santa Barbara are concentrated on a small number of streets, which are called Vision Zero Priority Corridors. Chapala Street is a Vision Zero Priority Corridor due to the history of broadside, sideswipe, and speed-related collisions that have resulted in death and/or serious injuries. In preparation for this project, a Vision Zero safety analysis was performed on Chapala Street to identify safety improvements that may be implemented to address the repeating patterns of collisions.

In late 2021, Chapala Street will be repaved between Sola and Mission Streets. Safety enhancements in this corridor include a new traffic signal and improved intersection lighting at Arrellaga Street, and Chapala Street will be reduced from two traffic lanes to one traffic lane plus a bike lane between Arrellaga and Mission Streets. The bike lane will provide an improved connection for cyclists traveling between Downtown and the upper De La Vina/State Street area. About eight on-street parking spaces would be removed on Chapala Street between Padre and Pedregosa Streets.

For more information, please contact:
Derrick Bailey, Principal Traffic Engineer.
dbailey@santabarbaraca.gov