Tag archives: roads
Many people seem to forget that the automobile was not the first “horseless carriage.” For most of the 100 years before motor cars began to appear on our roads, self-propelled vehicles originally powered by steam, had been crisscrossing the world’s continents. The main difference was that “locomotives,” as they were called, required a very special […]
The Montecito Association Transportation Committee deals with all things roads, bike paths, and pedestrian walkways in Montecito. At our October meeting, we got an update on the Highway 101 project, including the reasons why the backup was so bad when the Sheffield segment started. The state switched the construction schedule from night to day due […]
Don’t let them fool you. All roads do not lead to Rome – at least, not anymore. But: there is always a close connection between any road and whatever travels on it. Most of our roads today began as animal tracks. Animals didn’t need motels, or scenic views. They bought no souvenirs, and never wrote […]
Knowing where your property ends and where roads begin can be confusing. The Montecito Association has received some calls about easements and encroachments and realized it might be a good idea to write about roads, bridges, and other related topics. Road right-of-way is dedicated when property maps are created to allow space for the County, […]
Q. Some Montecito roads are so dinged with ruts, driving on them seems like a game of “dodgem holes.” Are our rocky roads due for a fix? A. What a welcomed question – because it may mean the community is starting to change our focus from survival mode to surface matters. Just 19 months ago […]
While Montecito’s roads were a nameless, mazelike mess in the 1870s, by 1899, with the introduction of Rural Free Delivery postal service, order and identification began to be placed on the street system. (See MJ “Early Roads in Montecito” July 18, 2019.) All would remain dirt roads, however, until 1909, when the first few roads […]
Q. What’s the on-street parking game-plan in Montecito? I’ve been shooed away by property owners, blocked by rocks, scarred by hedges, and nearly run off the road when I was walking. What’s private, what’s public, and what’s for pedestrians? A. Montecito makes jockeying for pavement and parking rights one of our prime sports. With uniform […]
In December 1870, a traveler from Santa Barbara rented a horse and buggy and attempted to visit Colonel Bradbury True Dinsmore at his ranch in El Montecito, stopping first at the famous big grapevine. So frustrating was this experience, he was moved to write of his travails in the local paper. Although he considered the […]
This has gone on too long. Every day, the pot holes and trenches get worse at the bottom off Olive Mill Road and Coast Village Road right in front of the construction of the new building on the corner. This intersection is a joke and needs to be repaired now. My husband and I drive […]
