An environmental impact report on a long-debated roadway extension in Orcutt has been released for comment, approximately two weeks before a public forum is scheduled on the Union Valley Parkway project.

The report presents five alternatives as it aims to identify, predict and mitigate environmental impacts that could arise due to the proposed Union Valley Parkway extension and interchange project.

As proposed, the east-west street south of Foster Road would be extended west across Highway 135 to connect with Blosser Road south of the Santa Maria Public Airport. On the east, it would be connected to Highway 101 by a new interchange.

The project's draft environmental impact report (DEIR) prepared by San Luis Obispo-based Rincon Consultants points out that the extension would cause a permanent increase in noise levels for local neighbors and would harm several animal and plant species.

If the project is completed as planned, for example, long-term traffic noise levels at homes along Clubhouse Drive and the existing segment of Union Valley Parkway would exceed the Federal Highway Administration's noise abatement criteria, the consultants reported.

One of the biggest issues recently for the four-decade-old project has been the California tiger salamander, which became a federally protected species in 2000, though plenty of people have also had concerns about how much traffic the changes would generate.

The project has been a joint effort of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the city of Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County.

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Project staff members will be available to answer questions at a public forum scheduled from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Aug. 12 in the Enterprise Ballroom at the Radisson Hotel at 3455 Skyway Drive in Santa Maria.

Since 1963, planning documents have envisioned Union Valley Parkway, a two-lane road that extends from Hummel Drive on the west to Boardwalk Lane on the east, being extended across Orcutt to connect Highway 101 and Highway 1.

The current proposal, however, stops about two miles short of Highway 1, extending only to South Blosser on its west end.

In contrast, the report cites benefits such as improvements in traffic circulation, air contaminant emissions and emergency access.

Depending on what alternative is chosen from the five included in the report, up to 15 acres of potential nesting or roosting habitat for birds would be removed along with more than 20 acres of potential habitat for California tiger salamanders and California red-legged frogs, according to the DEIR.

Also affected by the roadway extension would be the California legless lizard, the California horned lizard, the Southern Pacific pond turtle, the two-striped garter snake, the monarch butterfly and the American badger, according to the report.

Various acres of coast live oak woodland, eucalyptus woodland, wetland and central dune scrub habitat could also be temporarily or permanently removed to make way for the extension.

Sam Womack can be reached at 739-2218 or swomack@lompocrecord.com.

July 30, 2008