Up until recently, the once-dirt driveway along Jonata Street in Los Olivos had been impassable during the rainy season, due to countless potholes and the buildup of mud along the road.
Now, that is no longer an issue.
“A year ago at this time, this was just a sea of mud,” remembered Sam Mason, who manages the Pedego Bike store in town.
Friday morning, he rode his bike down the newly paved section of Jonata, without having to worry about getting stuck in a pothole.
“In years past, we had always wondered how we were going to get through, or we would never get through this street for safety reasons. Now, since we are going to get rain, it is not even a thought,” said Los Olivos resident Harvey Saarloos.
More than a decade ago, Saarloos and other local business owners sought help from the county to get Jonata Street paved.
After years of budget issues, outreach and meetings with local officials, late last year, the project finally came to fruition.
“It has been transformed now from an orphaned or an ugly stepsister, into really, a Cinderella for the community,” said Joan Hartmann, Santa Barbara County District 3 Supervisor.
“It was a really challenging project because there were some right-of-way peculiarities that made it not in the county’s maintained system, but it was a well-used road in the community,” explained Chris Sneddon, Santa Barbara County Deputy Director of Transportation.
Sneddon says prior to the Jonata Street pavement project, gusty winds in Los Olivos would often blow dust up into the air and into nearby storefronts.
“Every afternoon, dust would make its way into my driveway a couple blocks away,” Mason added.
Jenny Speirs, an artist at the Gallery Los Olivos, says she is glad to see the dust gone, too.
“That is so nice because it keeps it cleaner around here. We really appreciate that with the businesses here,” she said.
On Friday, Saarloos joined county leaders in a celebration of the project’s completion, saying the long-awaited asphalt on Jonata Street will prove invaluable for the growing Los Olivos community.
“I think it is fantastic to have a beautiful road that can be used civically in the future, so I think it is a win-win-win for everybody,” he told KSBY.
Sneddon says more infrastructure improvements are to come throughout Santa Barbara County, including finishing work on W. Main Street near the entrance to the Guadalupe Dunes. He says weather permitting, the park could reopen by springtime.
