Highway 101 carpool lanes open Friday morning through Carpinteria

CARPINTERIA, Calif. - A stretch of the carpool lanes on Highway 101 through Carpinteria opens at 5:00 a.m., before sunrise, Friday morning.

This is great news as Caltrans crews and Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) make progress on a $700 million dollar, multi-phase freeway widening project.

The massive construction project is part of a long-term congestion relief plan for Highway 101.

Transportation leaders met Thursday morning to talk about scheduling 12 new side projects which will include separate bike lanes, a safe pedestrian path, and improved public transportation.

"Some of the new updates that they are highlighting of plans we have in place are zero-emissions buses, increasing a bus fleet for Santa Barbara MTD that will be electrifying their buses," said SBCAG Spokeswoman, Lauren Bianchi Klemann.

Congestion relief efforts will eventually include charging stations installed at key areas off Highway 101.

The overall project is not only critical for Santa Barbara County but the entire Central Coast and beyond.