Goleta is split in two by Highway 101 with very few connections to heal that split. Highway 101 was located for the convenience of long-distance commerce, not for the benefit of local residents.

Over the years, the freeway crossings have been widened to accommodate ever more motor vehicle traffic. Dedicated turn lanes and even double turn lanes have made these crossings hostile to non-motorized travel.

Where Dos Pueblos High students used to walk and bicycle to school over the Storke/Glen Annie overpass, it is now a paved desert crossed only in steel cages.

One crossing in Goleta that has remained relatively friendly to non-motorized traffic is the one at Los Carneros Road. But Caltrans and the County plan to change that. They plan to spend $4 million to widen it and add turn lanes that will be a hazard to cyclists and pedestrians.

That amount of money could instead be used toward making additional freeway crossings. More crossings of modest width would connect Goleta. Few crossings of ever greater width further divide Goleta.

More crossings of modest width means more opportunity for people to walk or bike to neighborhoods that are close to each other across the 101 Divide.

I presented these views to the Goleta City Council on June 6. Later in that meeting was a discussion of spending the Measure D transportation sales tax.

That item brought out a dozen members of the public who patiently waited over three hours for a chance to speak. They spoke in favor of spending these funds to provide children with safe routes to school and to promote other transportation which is sustainable and enhances quality of life.

Unfortunately, the County's plan allocates almost no money for any such improvements. They give almost all the money toward a backlog of road maintenance. And the Goleta City Council voted unanimously to "rubber stamp" the County's plan, in their words.

It matters where transportation money comes from and where it goes. Road maintenance historically has been paid for through user fees at the fuel pump. Sales taxes and other general revenues are used to pay for matters of general public good such as parks and education. Driving is a public harm, not a public good.

Fuel taxes have fallen about 50 cents per gallon adjusted for inflation in the past 20 years. That has created a shortfall of money to pay for road maintenance. Instead of restoring the fuel tax to historic levels, elected officials have used taxes like Measure D sales taxes to keep fuel taxes artificially low.

The result is ever larger vehicles guzzling this artificially cheap fuel. And, at the same time, there is less money available for community enhancements to make driving less necessary. It is a vicious circle that results in ever more driving which is harmful to the planet and harmful to our community.

The Sierra Club asks the Goleta City Council to use our tax money to make Goleta more connected with frequent modest freeway crossings. Take the money that would be used to make Los Carneros wider and scarier and instead use it to make our community more connected.

We also ask that Measure D and other general revenues not be used to subsidize artificially low fuel taxes. Instead, we ask that they be used to create safe routes for children to bike and walk to school.

We can create a community where every child can get to school and to visit friends by bike or on foot instead of being passively driven in motor vehicles. Such a community is better for all residents and for the natural environment.

Connecting Goleta and Transportation Taxes