SBCAG STAFF REPORT SUBJECT: Santa Claus Lane Bike Path MEETING DATE: April 21, 2016 AGENDA ITEM: 5D STAFF CONTACT: Anne Jensen RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the Chair to execute a cooperative agreement with Caltrans defining roles and responsibilities for the preliminary engineering and environmental phase of the Santa Claus Lane Bike Path project. SUMMARY: SBCAG is the lead agency for the Santa Claus Lane Bike Path project, which will be a coastal permit requirement of Phase III of the U.S. 101 HOV project. The board has approved a contract with a consultant, which has prepared work products for review by Caltrans. The reviews by Caltrans can only be undertaken after the two agencies sign a cooperative agreement defining their roles and responsibilities for the project. The reviews would be done at no cost to SBCAG. The cooperative agreement is attached to the staff report. DISCUSSION: The Santa Claus Lane Bike Path, proposed to connect the Santa Claus Lane unincorporated area beachfront to Carpinteria Avenue, is included in local community plans and would fill in a gap in the California Coastal Trail that exists on the ocean side of U.S. 101. The project first made its appearance in local planning processes as early as 1977. In 1996, the SBCAG board selected it as one of 11 U.S. 101 operational improvements to be funded in lieu of the highway widening when the first attempt to widen U.S. 101 met community resistance. SBCAG allocated funding to the project and the County of Santa Barbara and the City of Carpinteria have both attempted to complete the project. The project’s main challenge is squeezing a Class I bike path between U.S. 101 and the UPRR tracks adjacent to the Carpinteria Salt Marsh (a sensitive wetland area). The project is contained entirely within the Coastal Zone and impacts to wetlands in the zone require amendments to local coastal plans, support of the California Coastal Commission, and a “balancing” of wetland impacts with improvements to local coastal access by the very same project. The County and City of Carpinteria used part of the funding to prepare preliminary design for the project approximately 10 years ago but did not complete the project due to concerns for its impacts to wetlands (both agencies are charged with protecting coastal resources under their own local coastal plans), the potential need to use highway or railroad right of way, and the cost and effort it would take to secure state and federal resource agency approvals for a relatively small, low-cost project. Approximately $195,000 was left unexpended after the two agencies ceased work.

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New life has been breathed into the project by the need for the U.S. 101 HOV project to “balance” its wetland impacts to obtain Coastal Development permits. Phase III of the widening project in the City of Carpinteria, being led by Caltrans and SBCAG, will impact wetlands (and agricultural lands) and in order to receive a local coastal plan amendment and permit, the project must balance those impacts with improved local coastal access. Caltrans is now more motivated and amenable to bike path alternatives that use state right of way to facilitate the HOV project to the extent that the bike path may be accommodated on the roadway shoulder and have minimal impacts on wetlands. Precedent for accommodating Class I paths in state right of way has also been set by the path constructed between Mussel Shoals and Carpinteria on the ocean side of the highway. The Mussel Shoals project was a coastal permit condition for Phase II of the HOV project. Both the City of Carpinteria and Coastal Commission identified completing the Santa Claus\Carpinteria Ave. project as one of the desired improvements to local coastal access and required it as part of the local coastal plan amendment and permit for Phase III of the HOV project. The project additionally garners strong local support from the citizens of Carpinteria, who requested its construction through a 400 signature petition. The project also supports the County of Santa Barbara’s efforts to improve access to the Santa Claus Lane commercial area. Thus the Santa Claus Lane Bike Path project has the support from a broad coalition of local and state agencies.. The agencies agreed that SBCAG is the right agency to initiate a second effort to engineer an acceptable project. Given the small scale of the project, SBCAG is able to provide the staff resources as the lead agency. An additional $100,000, on top of the $195,000 left unexpended by Carpinteria and the County, was allocated to the project by SBCAG from the Measure A South Coast Bicycle and Pedestrian program. In October 2013, the board approved a contract with MNS engineers with a budget of $295,000 to undertake environmental and preliminary engineering services. MNS’ work is now at a point where Caltrans must formally review work products. The attached cooperative agreement with Caltrans must therefore be executed to formalize the roles of the two agencies and put in writing that Caltrans’ review of work products will come at no cost to SBCAG. The cooperative agreement is included as Attachment A. Future phases will require additional cooperative agreements. A Maintenance Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County of Santa Barbara and City of Carpinteria has been signed. COMMITTEE REVIEW: None. ATTACHMENTS: Cooperative Agreement with Caltrans