Cathedral Oaks Road is an important part of our City. The roadway is critical to everything from serving as a route to schools, to providing health and recreational activities such as biking and walking. Ultimately, the roadway is a significant part of the quality of life we all expect from living in Goleta The City realizes this road is in significant need of repair. Please take a moment to watch this video message from our Goleta Public Works Director Charlie Ebeling who discusses the pavement condition, planned paving activities and funding challenges for this important project. 

City of Goleta
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
Updated March 2022

Director’s Message on Cathedral Oaks Road Pavement Condition

Hello Goleta, my name is Charlie Ebeling.  I serve as your Public Works Director and City Engineer.  The City of Goleta understands the importance of maintaining our roadways and sidewalks for so many reasons, like safety, exercise and quality of life for our residents and visitors.  Cathedral Oaks is a popular, well-traveled roadway in our city, and we are aware of the public’s concern regarding its condition. It’s important that you know that we are working to find solutions.  However, these solutions are not easy to implement with today’s fiscal realities.  The needed pavement maintenance for Cathedral Oaks Road from approximately Los Carneros Road to the end at Calle Real near US 101 will likely cost $16 million to $18 million.

When I started with the City in 2018, I recognized that pavement maintenance was a significant concern and would continue to be in the future.  The Department of Public Works uses a computerized database system to track 80 miles of pavement condition and to prioritize pavement maintenance projects.  The goal is to use the right maintenance treatment at the right time, to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used most efficiently, and the roadways are in the best possible shape. 

Pavement maintenance typically consists of slurry seals, overlays, and reconstructions.  A series of slurry seals and overlays over a 20-to-30-year period help a roadway last the longest and use taxpayer funding most efficiently. Cathedral Oaks Road is now at the stage where the pavement must be “reconstructed.”  We know this because the existing pavement has aged to the point where the asphalt is brittle.  When asphalt becomes brittle, extensive cracking forms and small rocks start to come loose.  You can see the small rocks and even brittle chunks of pavement that form potholes on the surface of the roadway.  The small rocks tend to be thrown to the shoulder when vehicles drive on the roadway.  To “reconstruct” the roadway, grinding machines will remove as much as 12 to 16 inches of asphalt, which is significantly deeper than the 4 inches you might normally see when a roadway is overlayed.  Reconstructing the roadway will cost much more than the usual slurry seals and overlay maintenance projects.  Cathedral Oaks Road from Los Carneros to Calle Real needs reconstruction work.

Funding pavement maintenance projects can be very challenging. There are dedicated funding sources such as a portion of gas tax dollars and the local ½-cent sales tax dollars in Santa Barbara County.  The ½ cent sales tax, called Measure A, was approved by local voters for transportation related projects.  Those limited sources are the main funding for all types of transportation infrastructure maintenance and new projects in the City of Goleta.  Other taxpayer sources such as the local general sales tax and property tax are allocated to specified public services such as schools, the state, other local public agencies such as the County, with a small portion of those taxes going to the City’s General Fund. The City of Goleta receives approximately five cents for every property tax dollar generated and less than one cent for every general sales tax dollar generated in Goleta. Over time, when possible, the City Council has directed that some General Fund dollars go to a variety of public projects including pavement maintenance.  The City has traditionally spent an approximate average of $2 million per year on pavement maintenance.  To keep up with just the aging 80 miles of pavement, approximately $6 million per year should be spent (in today’s dollars).  Unfortunately, the City now also has a backlog of almost $60 million in pavement needs in addition to the $16 million to $18 million needed for Cathedral Oaks Road.  The pavement maintenance backlog is due to several factors including funding challenges.  However, the most significant factor is that most of the Goleta suburbs were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  This means that almost all the roadways on the mountain side of the freeway are aging at the same rate and are now many are in need to heavy maintenance.  This isn’t as noticeable on neighborhood streets but on the large roadways such as Cathedral Oaks Road, the age, therefore the condition, is very noticeable.  The City also has a significant backlog of curb, gutter and sidewalk maintenance, street tree maintenance and parks and open space maintenance.

You might ask then why is the City pursing other transportation infrastructure projects such as the replacement of the Hollister Avenue Bridge over San Jose Creek or the new roundabouts at the State Route 217/Hollister Avenue Interchange freeway on and off ramp intersections?  These projects are funded by grants from the state and federal governments.  The City has leveraged relatively small amounts of local funding from sources such as the Measure A dollars to obtain the grants.  For example, the Hollister Avenue Bridge Replacement Project is approximately 90% funded by a Federal Highway Administration Grant.  The City is providing approximately 10% of the cost of this much needed project.  The grant dollars for that project are restricted to the bridge project and cannot be used for pavement maintenance on roadways such as Cathedral Oaks Road.  The City has pursued many of these types of grants for a myriad of projects.  Unfortunately, none of the grant money can be legally shifted away from the specified projects to other needs.

There are other issues on Cathedral Oaks Road including the closure of the bike path between Winchester Canyon Road and Calle Real.  In 2017, the City experienced a quick but heavy rainstorm that damaged the hillside on Cathedral Oaks Road where you now see the fence closing the bike path.  At the time, previous Public Works staff was concerned that the damaged hillside might have undermined the bike path.  A recent geotechnical study has shown that underground voids do exist under the bike path and, therefore, the bike path is unsafe and will remain closed until major repairs can be made to the adjacent hillside.  With the geotechnical study in hand, Public Works has preliminarily estimated that the hillside repairs, including repairs to the bike path, are estimated to cost $6 million to $8 million.  I have determined that there are likely no available grants for this type of maintenance repair, therefore, City leadership has been working to find other funding solutions.  Again, given many needs around the City and current fiscal realities, the City is working to find solutions for funding this project, constructing the repairs and opening the bike path.  The bike path will remain closed until the hillside is repaired.

In addition to the many grant funded projects in the “pipeline,” the 2020-2021 Pavement Rehabilitation Project includes reconstructing Cathedral Oaks Road from Glen Anne Road to Alameda Road.  The project also includes a temporary thin overlay of Cathedral Oaks Road from Winchester Canyon Road to Calle Real.  While this temporary pavement will not last long given the underlying need to reconstruct the roadway, Public Works is proactively preparing the surface for the hillside repair project when funding is determined for that project.  Without a temporary pavement maintenance project, construction vehicles for the hillside repair project will severely damage the road.  Once the hillside and the bike path are repaired, this roadway segment will be scheduled for reconstruction.  Other roadways such as a portion of Kellogg Avenue south of Hollister Avenue are included in the 2020-2021 Pavement Rehabilitation Project. Construction of this project began in November 2021 and is anticipated to be complete by the end of May 2022.  The roadway segments included in the project were based on the computerized database prioritization system the City uses and were reviewed and approved by the City Council.

The City continually evaluates the condition of our streets and roads.  The 2020-2021 Pavement Rehabilitation Project includes approximately $4.6 million for repairs and improvements. Approximately $16 to $18 million in additional funds is needed to improve Cathedral Oaks Road which has been deteriorating over the past 20 years. And, additional funds are also needed for hillside repairs. While the cost of addressing these needs has increased, City funds remain limited. The City continues to evaluate various funding scenarios to determine the most cost-effective approach to improving and maintaining Goleta's streets and roads. 

It is important to remember that unlike other cities in the County, Goleta does not receive its full allocation of sales tax revenue or its property tax due to the revenue neutrality agreement with the County of Santa Barbara, reducing our General Revenue share annually of approximately $6 million. In addition, the City does not have business license taxes, utility user taxes, or add-on sales tax (transaction and use tax) like other nearby cities.  More information can be found about the pavement management project in the recent staff report presented to Council on November 5, 2020, located here and additional information on the City's long range financial forecast  presented to Council on December 10, 2020, located here.

In summary, the Department of Public Works is aware of the backlog of maintenance needs in the City including much needed pavement maintenance.  We are looking for funding solutions and we will be continuing to work with City leadership, including the City Council, on identifying the needs, prioritizing the work, and determining the best way to fund maintenance projects.  Thank you for taking the time to read this message.  Please let us know if you have further questions or concerns and please look for updates, I will provide from time to time.

Charlie

Pictured: Historic photos of Cathedral Oaks Road