Since August 31, crews have worked overnight at Meigs Road and Cliff Drive to finish the City's water-main replacement. The City expects that work to end in early November. The bigger project waits on it. The Cliff Drive Vision Zero redesign, funded with a $27 million state grant, can't start until the water main is done. Its plan puts a new traffic signal at Camino Calma, another one mid-block in the commercial stretch toward Meigs, and changes the shopping strip to one-way traffic with angled parking.
The road runs about three miles from Arroyo Burro to Castillo Street, but both projects come back to the same few blocks. For anyone who buys coffee, picks up lunch or turns left at Meigs most days, the next two years of change on the Mesa center on that short stretch.
Night Shifts at Meigs, Through Early November
The current night work runs from 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The City says it chose those hours to keep impacts off local businesses and daytime traffic while crews finish what it calls critical construction. Expect construction noise, temporary traffic control and possible delays. Residents and emergency vehicles keep access, and the City suggests using another route if you can. The early-November finish depends on weather and field conditions.
The original schedule was different. When the City announced the project in September 2025, it said work would start in early October 2025 at the Las Positas Road and Cliff Drive roundabout and move east. Daytime crews would work weekdays on Meigs Road from Ricardo Avenue to Salida Drive, on Red Rose and Red Rose Lane, on Cliff Drive from near the roundabout to La Marina, and on La Marina itself. Overnight work was limited to the roundabout and the Cliff and Meigs intersection. The City said then that everything would be finished in summer 2026. Summer is over. The intersection the plan always marked for night work is the last piece still underway.
The project is large. The City's bid posting lists an estimated value of $11.755 million and 215 working days. The pipes, valves and hydrants under Cliff Drive are being replaced now so the street above them can be rebuilt later.
Why the Water Main Sets the Clock
The City has said plainly that Vision Zero starts only after the water main is finished. Here's the published sequence:
| Date | Milestone | Status as published |
|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | CEQA Notice of Exemption for Vision Zero | Received and posted July 30, 2025 |
| Early October 2025 | Water-main work begins at the Las Positas roundabout | Scheduled start |
| Summer 2026 | Original water-main finish target | Passed with work still underway |
| August 31 to early November 2026 | Overnight work at Meigs and Cliff | In progress |
| Fall 2026 | City plans to advertise Vision Zero for construction bids | Planned as of March 24, 2026 |
| Spring 2027 | Vision Zero construction expected to begin | Planned as of March 24, 2026 |
The City's most recent public schedule for Vision Zero dates from March. It said the design was nearly finished, the job would go out to bid in fall 2026, and construction would start in spring 2027. The next round of community meetings will cover construction phasing once a contractor is chosen. The City's adopted FY27 Public Works budget lists Cliff Drive Vision Zero among the large projects moving into construction. Treat the spring 2027 date as the City's plan. A contractor still has to be selected, and the date depends on the water main wrapping up on time.
A Highway Becoming a Street
Cliff Drive was built by Caltrans as a highway. The City took control of the corridor in 2014, and that handover made later projects possible, including the Las Positas and Cliff Drive roundabout. In 2018 the City adopted a Vision Zero strategy aimed at preventing severe and fatal injuries. The strategy ranks Cliff Drive as the City's second-highest priority corridor. The City then received $27 million from the California Active Transportation Program for final design and construction.
Jessica Grant, the City's Supervising Transportation Planner, described the goal to KEYT in July 2025:
"It's revolutionary because we are transforming this really high speed road way into a local street. That really honors the safety for all road users whether you are driving, walking, or biking."
The design removes travel lanes the City considers unnecessary. It adds a 3.1-mile path, separated from traffic, from Arroyo Burro County Park to Castillo Street. The City says the path fills a major gap in the 30-mile South Coast coastal bike route between UCSB and Ventura County. The plans include 14 new crosswalks, safety upgrades at four existing ones and four new traffic signals. Crossing improvements include curb extensions, median refuge islands, flashing beacons, safety lighting and high-visibility markings.
The Strip Between Camino Calma and Meigs
The project's environmental filing lists four signal locations:
- Cliff Drive at Camino Calma
- A mid-block crossing in the commercial stretch between Camino Calma and Meigs Road
- The Santa Barbara City College West Campus entrance
- The SBCC East Campus entrance
Two of the four sit in the short commercial stretch just west of Meigs. The block that now has overnight water-main crews will also get the most visible street redesign. KEYT reported that the strip mall near Meigs and Cliff, home to several businesses including Taco Bell, will become one-way with angled parking. The City's goal is smoother traffic and a more walkable stretch. Neither KEYT nor the City has published how many parking spaces the change adds or removes. That number will matter to anyone who parks there for a quick errand.
Businesses along Cliff Drive keep opening even with the work ahead. Mission City Sandwich Shop opened at 1826 Cliff Drive, Suite A, in February 2025, and Noozhawk reported a new Wingstop on the Mesa in December 2025. The City scheduled the current Meigs work at night specifically to limit the effect on businesses. How construction is phased around this stretch in 2027 is the main topic for the post-contractor meetings.
Not everyone sees the signals the same way. In a public comment letter dated July 27, 2025, Mesa resident Kathy Koury asked whether new signals on Cliff Drive could push traffic onto Shoreline Drive. She raised concerns about schoolchildren, park users, and people walking and biking along that route. Whether drivers actually shift to Shoreline won't be clear until the signals are running.
Crosswalks on the Streets You Already Cross
Beyond the signals, the filing lists new high-visibility crosswalks or safety upgrades at Mesa Lane, Fellowship Road, Oliver Road, Camino Calma, the mid-block commercial crossing, Salida Del Sol, Santa Cruz Boulevard, Terrace Road and San Rafael Avenue, La Marina Drive, Oceano Drive, both SBCC campus entrances, and Rancheria Street. The new crosswalk at Salida Del Sol is meant to improve coastal access and give students a safer walking route to Washington School.
The plan also reaches off Cliff Drive. Flora Vista gets a wider sidewalk between Cliff Drive and Red Rose, plus curb extensions where Flora Vista meets Red Rose. Red Rose gets new sidewalk between Fellowship and Flora Vista on the walking route to Monroe Elementary. Loma Alta gets a wider sidewalk connecting McKinley Elementary to the new path. Red Rose was also on the City's list of streets for water-main work, so it gets attention in both phases.
Where to Weigh In
The City posts project updates, past meeting recordings, and plans and renderings on the Cliff Drive Vision Zero project page, where you can also sign up for email updates. Design questions go to [email protected]. For the night work at Meigs, the contact is Project Engineer Mehdi Moussavian at (805) 897-2501.
The path's western end is at Arroyo Burro, which has a free beach cleanup on Sunday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to noon. Volunteers meet at the Watershed Resource Center, and no RSVP is needed. Check the Edhat listing before you go in case the schedule changes.
If you own a home near the Camino Calma to Meigs stretch, a new signal, crosswalk or parking layout could change your daily access. David Kim Group follows Mesa projects like this one closely and can explain what they mean for your street. Get your free home valuation, and we'll walk you through how buyers are likely to see the Cliff Drive work around your home.
