Edhat Staff
Section of US 101 North of Gaviota
Source: Caltrans
Caltrans will widen striping and increase visibility on 1,027 lane miles of U.S. Highway 101 from the San Benito/Santa Clara County line to the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line, thanks to funding by Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
“The wider and brighter striping will make it easier for all drivers and truckers to see the lane lines,” said Caltrans Director Laurie Berman. “The highly reflective striping will improve safety for road users, especially during rainy days. The six-inch striping will also take up more surface so it will be more durable and last longer, saving taxpayers millions of dollars of future maintenance repairs.”
The highly reflective six-inch striping is replacing the longtime standard four-inch wide stripes. The new lane lines are more visible due to a new material being used to enhance reflectivity.
Crews are scheduled to begin striping US-101 from the Ventura/Santa Barbara County line to north of the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo County line starting Sunday, April 29. Motorists will encounter overnight ramp closures, Sunday night through Friday morning, from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. The $4.9 million project is the third SB 1 funded striping project to begin this year.
Earlier this month, crews began work on the $5.2 million striping project on US-101 from the State Route 166/US-101 Separation in San Luis Obispo County to the SR-198/US-101 Separation in Monterey County. Motorists will encounter alternating lane closures on northbound US-101, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and on southbound US-101 from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Overnight lane closures are possible Sunday night through Friday morning, from 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.
On April 15, crews also began the $4.4 million striping project on US-101 from the SR-198/US-101 Separation in Monterey County to the San Benito/Santa Clara County line. The majority of construction is taking place during the overnight hours. Motorists can expect overnight lane closures from 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.
In addition to restriping work, last month Caltrans began construction on the $1.4 million bridge project to improve and extend the service life of two bridges on US-101 at the Refugio Road Undercrossing in Santa Barbara County. The project was the first of eleven projects in District 5 that are scheduled to begin construction this year due to the funds from SB 1.
The construction schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and/or materials, and/or construction-related issues. More information and updates on projects can be found at http://www.dot.ca.gov/d5/ or on Twitter via @CaltransD5.
SB 1 provides an ongoing funding increase of approximately $1.8 billion annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the state highway system. SB 1 funds will enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027.
Caltrans is committed to conducting its business in a fully transparent manner and detailing its progress to the public. For complete details on SB 1, visithttp://www.rebuildingca.ca.
Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead, use alternative routes and Be Work Zone Alert.
