Cathedral Oaks Road Bridge Replacement

Cathedral Oaks Road Bridge Replacement

The Permittee proposes to replace both sections of the Cathedral Oaks Bridge which were built in 1958 and 1931. The new bridge will consist of bike lanes, 5-foot wide sidewalks, and four 12-foot traffic lanes, for a total width of 74.5 feet. Work in the creek will consist of channel grading, re-contouring and placement of ungrouted rock rip-rap. This bridge contains the largest bat colony in the greater Santa Barbara area, therefore bat exclusion measures and bat habitat replacement, both temporary and permanent, is a large part of this project. Bats will be prevented from entering the existing bridge crevices prior to demolition using plastic sheeting called exclusion curtains, which will hang down on both sides of the crevices and will be long enough to form a one-way passage that will prevent re-entry. The curtains shall be installed between the end of October and January 30th to prevent the return of the bat colony and before any pups are born. Bats will be provided alternative roosting habitat with six temporary structures consisting of two layers of plywood (2-feet high by 8-feet long) installed in a vertical position on the concrete girders under the bridge, with 1-inch by 2-inch spacers, for a total of 96 linear feet. Four additional Texas bat abodes will be attached under the nearby Tuckers Grove entrance bridge, providing 224 linear feet of crevice habitat. Texas abodes consist of eight layers of plywood and spacers to provide seven parallel crevices. Ten additional long term bat habitats will be installed in a vertical position on concrete girders under the bridge, with 1-inch by 2-inch spacers, for a total of 96 linear feet. Four additional Texas bat abodes will be attached under the nearby Tuckers Grove entrance bridge, providing 224 linear feet of crevice habitat. Texas abodes consist of eight layers of plywood and spacers to provide seven parallel crevices. Ten additional long term bat habitats will be installed under the new bridge using Texas bat abodes, clustered mid-span on each side of the center line. All the new bat abodes shall be rubbed with bat guano or sprayed with bat guano tea from the original colony to ensure the bats will move into the new habitat. The Permittee shall provide an area of flat open water so the bats can fly in and drink on the wing. Monitoring of the bats will be conducted by a qualified biologist.

Goleta

Santa Barbara