CityofGoleta
Source: City of Goleta
The City of Goleta is pleased to report that fire hazards along the US Highway 101 corridor between Los Carneros Road and Fairview Avenue are greatly reduced following a two week-long project. Caltrans crews removed more than 60 tons of underbrush and cleared paths for emergency responders to have access in case of an emergency. The work started on July 27, 2020 and wrapped up on Friday, August 7, 2020. In addition to clearing brush and dead vegetation, crews also trimmed trees and pruned remaining tree canopies. In all, ten full 40-cubic yard roll off containers were hauled off.
The build-up of dense vegetation, trash and debris through the corridor has been a source of great concern, especially after several homeless encampment associated fires in the area last month.
City of Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte said, “We are so grateful to Caltrans crews for the hard work they put in the last two weeks to address this important public safety concern. While much progress was made there is still more work that needs to be done. We will continue close coordination efforts with our allied agencies to do everything we can to ensure the safety of the entire community.”
The City wants to thank motorists impacted by delays on US Highway 101 for their patience during the course of the project. In addition to Caltrans, we also want to acknowledge our collaborative partners including California Highway Patrol, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara County Fire, Marborg Industries and the California Conservation Corps.
That’s a great start, but what about the rest of the 101 corridor and all the other overgrown areas like the park at lake Los Carneros? I had hoped this would be the beginning of a new broader new effort to beautify public spaces and mitigate fire hazards. Unfortunately, it sounds like this effort has concluded and we will be resuming our policy of relying on unplanned fires to clear overgrown vegetation in public spaces going forward.
The homeless tents are now visible from the freeway
FERNALDPOINT – so what? The danger is reduced which should matter far more than the view from the freeway.