Drivers Now Traveling on Newest Section of Highway 101 in Montecito

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Drivers going south on Highway 101 are now traveling on the newest sections of the freeway through Montecito.

Construction came to a completion as new traffic patterns were opened up over the weekend after months of work. It came with advanced notice, signage and on site markings with cones.

New southbound lanes and ramps opened, the southbound off-ramp at Cabrillo Blvd closed, the traffic signal on Cabrillo Blvd at the southbound off-ramp at Hot Springs Rd/Cabrillo Blvd will be removed, and there is a temporary stop sign at the intersection of Olive Mill and Spring Rds.

Drivers can use the newly opened southbound off-ramp at Spring/Olive Mill Roads as the detour for the southbound off-ramp closure at Cabrillo Blvd. 

This work is part of the overall Carpinteria to Santa Barbara widening project to add an additional lane in each direction. It will create a peak hours High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane for drivers with one or more passengers.

The improvements will eventually be over a 10.9 mile stretch of the highway in both directions. The work costs about $700 million. It includes many changes beyond the additional lanes. Those include new bridges, ramps, creek crossing alterations, sound walls and signage.

The project is expected to help with congestion but it will not solve the issue at the busiest times, as was seen over the weekend. The combination of summer travel, and UC Santa Barbara graduation, along with normal commuting on the freeway, filled all the lanes bumper to bumper most of the weekend.

(More details, photos and video will be added here later today.)

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