A long-awaited roadway extension/interchange in Orcutt has drawn dozens of letters with differing opinions on where the proposed longer road should go and what the design should be for a new Highway 101 interchange.

The written comments are part of the final environmental impact report and environmental assessment on the Union Valley Parkway project, released earlier this month, which would extend the east-west street south of Foster Road west across Highway 135 to connect with Blosser Road south of the Santa Maria Public Airport, and a new freeway interchange. The comments are based on the draft EIR and include remarks from an August public hearing.

The 341-page comment section of the 558-page report includes letters from county and state agencies, organizations and individuals weighing in on proposed project meant to create a major artery through the Santa Maria/Orcutt area, and to relieve traffic on Clark Avenue, Santa Maria Way, Lakeview Road and other nearby roadways.

While the project would improve traffic circulation, air quality and emergency access, it would also result in more noise, disturbance of habitats and species, and lost views, according to the EIR.

The Santa Maria Planning Commission is scheduled to consider recommendations to the City Council on approval of the EIR and a General Plan amendment to the circulation element at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in City Council Chambers, 110 E. Cook St.

Because of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerns about habitats for the California tiger salamander, an endangered species, the amendment is the elimination of a portion of Blosser Road to Highway 1 from the Union Valley Parkway plans.

Most of the project area - 29.3 acres of 56 acres - is under the jurisdiction of Santa Maria. The remainder is in the Orcutt community under county jurisdiction.

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The estimated $36 million project, a joint effort of the Caltrans, the city of Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County, would be funded in part by state gas tax funds and Measure A, a countywide, half-cent sales tax for transportation.

Since 1963, planning documents have envisioned a Union Valley Parkway extension across Orcutt to connect Highway 101 and Highway 1. The current proposal, however, stops about two miles short of Highway 1, extending only to South Blosser on its west end, but remaining a two-lane road for the time being.

The EIR includes three proposed designs for the interchange and four extension alignment alternatives. The city's preferred alignment, alternative one, is a two-through-lane extension of Union Valley Parkway between Hummel Drive and Blosser Road, with the interchange at Highway 101 and connections at Highway 135, Orcutt Road, Foxenwood Lane and Hummel Drive. Additionally, a portion of Orcutt Road would be realigned to connect with Union Valley Parkway.

An 8-foot tall soundwall would be built along Clubhouse Drive between California Boulevard and Foxenwood Lane to abate noise impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

Alternative two is similar to alternative one but it “curves” north between Hummel Drive and west of California Boulevard to Blosser Road instead of continuing in a “straight” line. An 8-foot-tall soundwall would be built north of the rear lot lines of 19 homes in the Foxenwood subdivision on Clubhouse Drive between California Boulevard and Foxenwood Lane.

A petition signed by 36 individuals, many in the Foxenwood Estates housing project, favor a proposed Foster Road alignment, alternative three, between Blosser Road and California Boulevard that follows the same alignment as Foster Road that runs diagonally to Highway 135 with a northeast extension toward the intersection of Foster Road and Highway 135.

The alternative, however, has been eliminated from consideration because of “substandard design speed and insufficient sight distance.”

Further, the Foster Road alignment would lead to major impacts on circulation, access, parking, existing and planned site uses and other land uses, according to the EIR.

There also is an alternative for a reduced extension developed from public testimony and feedback from traffic experts.

This fourth alternative proposes a roadway extension that ends at Highway 135 instead of going west to Blosser Road.

According to the EIR, this alternative would reduce physical impacts, including the elimination of impacts on the California tiger salamander and California red-legged frog, because it would not extend the road west of Highway 135. However, it would result in fewer traffic circulation, air quality and emergency access, benefits without all of the planned roadway improvements.

The fourth alternative is no project at all.

In dozens of comment letters, writers favor variation two for the interchange, a 265.8-foot-long bridge with room for a future northbound slip ramp from eastbound Union Valley Parkway. The 60.75-degree angle of the bridge would align with existing property lines on the east side of the interchange.

Variation one is a 288-foot-long bridge at a 90-degree angle and enough room to accommodate a future northbound loop ramp from eastbound Union Valley Parkway. The third variation is a 228-foot-long bridge at a 90-degree angle with a northbound loop on-ramp.

Before the project can begin, Caltrans, as assigned by the Federal Highway Administration, needs to issue a Finding of No Significant Impact in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act. Caltrans is the lead agency for the environmental assessment tied to the EIR and for the project areas inside their jurisdiction.

The county Board of Supervisors will also consider the EIR/EA in the approval of right-of-way acquisition, encroachment permits and future roadway project developments.

November 16, 2008