After several years of planning, the final phase of Santa Barbara’s Highway 101 widening project is now fully funded. On Friday, the California Transportation Commission approved $137 million for the project after an all-day meeting with Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse, who also represented the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) in Sacramento.
Highlights
- After an all-day meeting on Thursday, the CTC approved $137 million in state funds for the Highway 101 expansion project.
- The majority of the project’s funding was acquired through Senate Bill 1.
- Construction for the project is expected to start as early as 2026.
Final Phase of the Project to Include a Range of New Modifications
The highway widening project was undertaken over a decade ago with the aim of reducing congestion in the corridor. It will increase the number of lanes from four to six. The final phase of the project will be expanding the final stretch from Montecito to Sycamore Creek in Santa Barbara, with three lanes in each direction, including the high occupancy vehicle lane to manage traffic during peak hours.
According to reports by KEYT, Randy Rowse said of the project, “We actually got the largest award in the state of California on this particular grant, mostly because this is the last little piece of the puzzle,” reiterating the importance of the project. “It allows us to better serve, obviously the Santa Barbara area plus and Vandenberg (Space Force Base) plus UCSB. There are so many parts of this thing going north and south that are so important to us,” Rowse added. “It’s a major artery for all of Southern California up into the Central Coast. So that’s really important for defense, for commerce, for tourism. ”
Most of the funding for the project has been acquired through State Senate Bill 1. The modifications to the route will also include improved on/off-ramps. Rowse stated that crews have mostly remained on or ahead of schedule on the construction timeline. Construction for the final phase is expected to begin in 2026.
Also Read
- Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Launches ‘Drive Sober’ Campaign Ahead of Holiday Travel
- Victim in Fatal Traffic Collision North of Goleta Identified as Los Angeles County Man
- Ventura County Teen Arrested for Allegedly Selling Drugs to Minors
- San Jose Creek Multipurpose Path Construction Set to Begin in Goleta
- Multiple Earthquakes Strike in Ventura County, Largest Measuring Magnitude 3.1
We want you to drive less, so we’ll build high speed 6 lane highways.
RUB – What a crock. Nobody’s going out and driving more because there are more lanes. “Hey honey, instead of watching AGT tonight let’s go driving and enjoy those extra lanes.” You obviously don’t have to commute to-and-from work using the 101.
OnLY NOW, 10 years+ after it started we have funding to complete this?? Yikes. So laughable.
Not too few lanes, but too much new construction. SB was built out to infrastructure limits decades ago.(roads, water, hiking trails etc)
Too many people…