Traffic flows along Union Valley Parkway into Orcutt after repairs, drainage improvements

Public Works Department crews and contractors began cleaning up silt and debris and fixing the collapsed roadway almost immediately, and last Friday the major connection between Orcutt residents and Highway 101 reopened.

County Supervisor Bob Nelson, whose 4th District includes Orcutt, asked Walter Rubalcava, Water Division deputy director, what was being done about flooding in the Santa Maria Valley during the Feb. 14 board meeting.

“It does seem appropriate to have a more comprehensive look at south Santa Maria Valley,” Nelson said.

Rubalcava said the department is developing a plan for annual checks and to make drainage improvements that might be found necessary, not only in the Santa Maria Valley but also the Santa Ynez and Lompoc valleys and a regional storm drain in Los Alamos.

He noted a spillway near the inlet was just completed on the drainage basin at Union Valley Parkway and Bradley Road, which will improve water flow, and Public Works was looking at other options, like removing the privacy slats from the chain link fence.

Public Works also installed a two-foot-tall concrete barrier along the new section of sidewalk to prevent future floodwaters from flowing down into the neighborhood again and divert them toward the drainage systems at Bradley Road.

While that work was being done, Orcutt-area residents had to make sometimes long detours to reach Highway 101, and traffic greatly increased on Bradley Road.