I've forever heard that Santa Barbara is a special place, with special people, people who care for this special place, and this special environment.
But then I read the public responses to the city staff report, the lurid details of Caltrans's environmental impacts to city streets and intersections. Keep in mind that Caltrans only does one project, with very little variation and that Caltrans's cookie-cutter engineering stamp is similar to what is used worldwide.
So brave and cavalier are the online commenters. The people have previously spoken. They've voted many times. Persuaded to vote over the years and decades for measures A, B, C, D, etc., guaranteeing this voter/developer project to completion.