The Solvang City Council passed the Santa Ynez Valley Master Bike Plan on for further consideration and development on Oct. 14, but it wasn’t without its detractors.
Public Works Director Matt van der Linden introduced the item to City Council, saying that the bike plan has been under development with the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments for more than a year.
Some of the plans call for simple additions to signage and bike lane markings, where other portions include adding to roads through paving. The bike path would cover territory throughout the Santa Ynez Valley, so the plan is meant to include the cities of Buellton and Solvang, as well as some unincorporated portions of Santa Barbara County.
“It is the goal of this planning process to arrive at one plan that is agreeable to all three valley jurisdictions,” he said.
Residents showed up at the meeting to voice concerns over safety and overdevelopment that would disturb area residents and wildlife. Many offered alternatives or requested further review of the existing plan. Lenore Fusano said she was worried about the width of the roads slated for potential bike paths.
“If you look at Chalk Hill and you look at Alisal Road, those are very narrow roads. I’m fearing we’re going to have a lot of different kinds of accidents,” she said. “I’m a bicyclist too. I have no problem with progress. I think that’s wonderful, but I think we need to reconsider where we put these bike lanes.”
Commenters also expressed concerns over communication and transparency as well as a portion of the trail running along the Santa Ynez River.
Another resident, Bud McCoy aired his own frustrations.
“I don’t feel like it’s a good situation that we feel that you just ramrodded this down our throats,” he said. “If you’re going to do something in that department, I think we ought to at least be involved.”
Earlier in the meeting, City Public Information Officer Kady Fleckenstein mentioned that Solvang was taking steps toward establishing better channels of communication through pages on social media like Facebook.
Mayor Pro Tem Robert Clarke agreed that the plan needed more consideration.
“The bottom line is I don’t think it can go down Fjord [Drive] the way it’s discussed,” he said.
Councilmember Karen Waite said she felt the road was more than wide enough.
The council reiterated that the bike lanes addressed in the plan “are not set in stone,” and that discussion with the community would continue.
This article appears in Oct 24-31, 2019.