For years, Santa Ynez residents Faith Deeter and Jessica Schley have wanted to improve safety along the roads in their neighborhood.
They say after months of outreach and hours of volunteer work, the restoration of the Carina Dee Velasquez Memorial Path is now complete.
“Last year, we broke ground in September. We broke ground on the first section of trail,” Schley said.
“This is a formal path for pedestrians to walk on that goes from here to Baseline,” Deeter added.
Deeter and Schley say their efforts began in 2015 when they sought help from local schools, nonprofits and Santa Barbara County agencies to garner support for improving safety for pedestrians, equestrians and cyclists along Refugio Road in Santa Ynez.
“We went and talked to Dunn School, we talked to the high school, the YMCA, the Christian Academy, many other organizations and got letters of support, and once we had that, it really started going,” Schley explained.
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann and the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade helped secure funds for the project while also organizing volunteer opportunities for the community to get involved.
“We picked up shovels, we helped lay some of the base and I got to tell you, it was really gratifying to be able to do that. It made me feel like I was part of the community,” Deeter said.
This past month, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to name the trail after 15-year-old Santa Ynez High School student Carina Dee Velasquez who was hit and killed while walking across Highway 246 eight years ago.
“Learning about Carina’s death really affected me like many others in the community. It was a big factor, just her death was so unnecessary,” Schley said.
“I feel like this kind of tragedy should really never happen because the road shoulders are here. Carina is not the only person that has been hurt or killed in this area,” Deeter added.
While the first phase of their trail restoration effort is now complete, they say much work is still to be done.
“The next phase is on the corner of 246 all the way down to the river, and what has started is just the beginning,” Deeter told KSBY.
“In five years, I would like to see the towns more connected and people out using the trails, and lots more miles of trails restored,” Schley said.
