La Entrada project pushes forward

A public discussion was held Tuesday night surrounding construction plans for lower State Street. The Santa Barbara City Council decided to move forward with the project, making no changes to the plan, despite concerns.

The La Entrada Hotel project is underway. However, the concern is over the narrowing of State Street, which was part of the original assessment back in 2001.

Currently, the plan is to reduce the street from two lanes in each direction, to one lane in each direction from the railroad tracks to the beach. Some council members, residents and businesses say this will only cause more traffic congestion, which will hurt tourism. They also fear the narrowing may hinder safety, and not be very beneficial for businesses trying to get delivery trucks and service trucks through there.

On the other side, many believe any change in the plan would only delay or possibly stop the long-awaited La Entrada project from moving forward. A project that has been years in the making. This would only hurt the city with a loss of jobs, and potential revenue. The council decided to not make any changes, to not jeopardize the project.

NewsChannel 3 reporter Shirin Rajaee has more.