24th District Congressman Salud Carbajal announced a $11.1 million dollar federal grant from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Jan. 17 to construct a long-coveted underpass below Highway 101 in Old Town Goleta. The underpass would connect the town to larger Goleta, Santa Barbara and UC Santa Barbara.

City officials and Carbajal say the underpass will help increase safety, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve recreation across the community. Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus

“It has been my pleasure to work with this outgoing administration and our local leaders to make this investment happen, and as the incoming administration [Trump-Vance] has already indicated, they may want to roll back that progress,” Carbajal said. “I want to assure you that day in and day out, I am committed to fighting back to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

The new underpass, named the San Jose Creek Multipurpose Path, is solely dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists. It will bridge the north and south areas of Old Town Goleta. The underpass will go underneath Highway 101, the Union Pacific railroad tracks and State Route 217.

“Old Town Goleta is an underrepresented, underserved, area historically. That is going away through the work of this council, our federal and state, county partners, all working together. It’s a new day for Old Town Goleta and all of Goleta,” Goleta second district city council member James Kyriaco said. 

City officials and Carbajal say it will help increase safety, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve recreation across the community. The project is currently open for bid to contractors and is slated to begin construction this spring.

“I am proud to call this another win — big win, win, win with the Central Coast.  A win for Goleta, who will enjoy a greater connectivity and sense of community. A win for our local economy, which will see jobs, jobs from the construction of this underpass,” Carbajal said. “And, a win for our environment, since this project will encourage more people to walk and bike, cutting air pollution in our community.”

Funding for the underpass comes from the Biden administration Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the largest infrastructure investment in nearly a century. The bill, passed in 2021, spurred several grants including the Reconnecting Communities pilot grant program, which Goleta became eligible for this year. The pilot grant program advances community-centered transportation connection projects, with a priority for disadvantaged communities.

Alongside four other funding sources including Measure A, regional housing, active transportation funding and local funding, Goleta raised $18 million for the underpass.

“This will be a major regional connection, from north of the city to south of the city, connecting our communities together,” Goleta Public Works Senior Project Manager Teresa Lopes, who wrote the grant, said.

The underpass project was initially identified as a need for Goleta by the County Regional Planning Department document in 2002 and later identified in the Goleta City Bicycle Master Plan in 2018.

Carbajal also called the underpass project a “full-circle moment,” as he had discussed the plan among the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in the 2000s and helped write the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill in Washington two years ago.

The project is slated for completion in 2027.

A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Jan. 23, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.

Print

Lizzy Rager
Lizzy Rager (she/her) is the Lead News Editor for the 2024-25 school year. She can be reached at lizzyrager@dailynexus.com