Marjie Kirn

This Overall Work Program and Budget outlines the comprehensive planning activities for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments for Fiscal Year 2025-26. It details the organization's objectives across program administration, comprehensive planning and analysis, transportation planning and programming, and program delivery services. Key strategic priorities include the implementation of a Broadband Strategic Plan, adoption of the Connected 2050 Update, completion of significant corridor studies (SR 166), and updates to the Regional Growth Forecast and Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans. The plan also focuses on enhancing regional environmental justice definitions, securing funding for critical infrastructure like the Highway 101 Corridor, supporting local agencies with various grants, expanding multi-modal transportation options including rail and transit services, and advancing zero-emission transit deployments. Overall, it serves as a roadmap for managing and delivering regional transportation and planning initiatives efficiently and transparently.

The SR 166 Comprehensive Corridor Study, prepared for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, aims to develop a comprehensive multimodal improvement package for a 7.4-mile section of SR 166. The study focuses on addressing critical issues such as heavy-duty truck accommodation, traffic congestion, crash risks, multimodal connectivity, and travel time reliability. This package is intended to guide future corridor programming decisions over a 20-year timeframe.

This 2025 update to the Measure A Strategic Plan, administered by the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, outlines the roadmap for delivering transportation projects funded by Measure A through 2040. The plan prioritizes updating project scopes, costs, and schedules, projecting revenue streams, and identifying financing tools to ensure the completion of all Measure A initiatives. Key focus areas include the Santa Barbara U.S. 101 Multimodal Corridor Project, North County Programs (local street improvements, transit, named projects), and South Coast Programs (transit services, circulation improvements, safe routes to schools). The overarching goal is to relieve traffic congestion, enhance safety, improve local infrastructure, and boost accessibility across Santa Barbara County.

The meeting served as a scoping session to gather public input regarding the scope of issues to be evaluated in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Santa Barbara County Last Mile Broadband Program. The discussion focused on the purpose of CEQA, which requires disclosure and consideration of environmental impacts and mitigation measures for discretionary projects. The project involves installing new fiber optic cable predominantly underground along existing roadways using low-impact boring or micro trenching techniques. Key environmental topics identified for detailed analysis in the EIR include air quality, biological resources, cultural resources (archaeological and historic), paleontological issues, energy, greenhouse gases, noise, tribal cultural resources, and utilities. The timeline presented indicates the Notice of Preparation (NOP) was released on May 30th, with public review concluding July 1st, aiming for a Draft Program EIR in the fall and final adoption/certification in January.

The meeting included discussions on accessing Spanish language interpretation, public participation, and presentations from the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans District Five, the County Association of Governments, and the Santa Barbara Public Works Department. The presentations covered travel trends, crash data, citation statistics, safety improvements on the highway and local roads, and a focus on the Los Olivos community. There was also a public forum for questions and answers with the panel members.