State Approves Santa Barbara Segment Funding to Finish Highway 101 Widening Project

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The funding has been approved by the California Transportation Commission which clears the way for the final work on the massive project to add a lane in each direction on the often congested freeway route from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara.

The last segment will extend the project widening work from Montecito work site now to Santa Barbara at Sycamore Creek.

There will then be three lanes in each direction, which includes the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane for peak hour traffic relief.

Funding was approved Friday morning after an all-day meeting Thursday in Sacramento. $137-million is arriving with a special ceremony in July.

Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse, who currently sits at the head of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), spoke on behalf of the project. He flew up Wednesday and met with legislators and other key decision makers before speaking to the commission Thursday.

"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," said Rowse.

California highway funding through State Senate Bill 1, approve by voters, has been a key source of money for this 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," said Rowse. "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. "

The project is more than just a lane in each direction. It will also include modifications to the Union Pacific crossing which sits at a low level at the Los Patos offramp and has been struck by larger vehicles many times.

The project will also include a new southbound ramp to Highway 101 from Cabrillo Boulevard.

This phase of freeway work could be started in early 2026.

Rowse says the crews working on the project have been on track or ahead of schedule with the timeline. "I've been so impressed with the staging, the completion and the calendar execution of, of all parties involved." 

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