Jobs will be created and the economy revitalized, asserted Congressmember Salud Carbajal in announcing $4.25 billion headed to California for bridge repair from the federal infrastructure bill passed in November 2021. First to be targeted are bridges rated to be in "poor" condition, 30 of which are in Santa Barbara County, according to the InfoBridge database on Tuesday.
Eleven of the bridges are along Highway 101 from Bailard Avenue in Carpinteria to State Route 135 in the Santa Ynez Valley. At least four of them cross Mission Creek in the City of Santa Barbara. The oldest bridge — where Mission Creek runs under De la Vina Street — dates to 1916, and the newest was built in 2005 along Goleta's San Pedro Creek, which parallels Fairview Avenue, at Matthews Road.
“We promised to make long-overdue investments in our dilapidated infrastructure, and I am proud to say we delivered," Carbajal said. The infrastructure bill, however, is the only Biden initiative to pass a deadlocked Senate. Nonetheless, Carbajal, who is a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said, "I’m proud to have worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this bill across the finish line.”