Hwy 101 widening kicks off

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

In less than a month, drivers motoring south on Highway 101 from Santa Barbara will start noticing concrete barriers popping up along the median.
It will be the first clear sign of a four-year, $53-million project that involves reconstructing two major interchanges, adding new lanes, building six new or upgraded bridges and completing local street improvements between Milpas Street and Hot Springs Road.
And while crews and equipment are still in the process of last-minute preparations and mobilization, dozens of local and state leaders gathered to toss a ceremonial shovelful of dirt on Wednesday.

Characterizing the project as long-awaited, Jim Kemp, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), said it will address key problems for motorists on the South Coast.
“It’s really going to help relieve congestion on Highway 101,” he said.
Others joined in the chorus, including Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum, First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal and Caltrans Director Will Kempton, who made the trip from Sacramento to take part in the groundbreaking.
“Someone asked me, why are you here in Santa Barbara? This is just a small project,” Kempton said. “I can tell you, it’s important to the people of Santa Barbara County.”
In addition to outlining reductions in traffic, safety improvements and an increased carrying capacity for the highway, Kempton noted the project will create an estimated 954 jobs.
Starting next month, construction will take place in four stages, each about a year in length.
Stage one involves numerous changes, including replacing bridges and reconstructing offramps at Milpas Street, building a roundabout at Coast Village and Hot Springs roads, creating a third southbound lane from Milpas Street past Hot Springs Road, and extending the multipurpose pathway running along the Andree Clark Bird Refuge into the Coast Village area.
Despite the heavy construction, Caltrans officials assured those in attendance that the highway will remain open in both directions during peak driving hours. Some nighttime lane closures are expected and Milpas Street will experience intermittent lane closures as necessary.
“We’re going to expect some long-term delays, no doubt,” Mayor Blum said. But, she added, “It will greatly improve the freeway travel in Santa Barbara.”
An in-depth outline of each stage of the project is available online at www.sbroads.com, along with a traffic cam feed, construction updates, and rideshare and commuting information.
Caltrans officials also mailed out approximately 31,000 informational packets to homeowners from Milpas Street to Carpinteria.
As some leaders went over the project aspects in detail, describing the flow of traffic on the proposed Montecito roundabout, others took the opportunity to plug the importance of Measure D funds, garnered through a local half-cent sales tax that supports transportation projects.
“Measure D has been absolutely instrumental in keeping this project moving forward,” Supervisor Carbajal said.
In total, $13 million for the current widening project will come from Measure D, while state funds from Proposition 1B total $52.2 million. When considering planning, construction and landscaping costs, the project price tag will approach $80 million.
While emphasizing that Caltrans doesn’t advocate for local tax measures, Kempton said having a local transportation tax is “extremely important” to attracting state funds.
“The leverage factor is incredible,” he said.
As just the first of four widening projects that will eventually stretch south to the Ventura County line, this project is the only one to be fully funded by Caltrans and Measure D.
The local half-cent sales tax is set to sunset in 2010 and a renewal measure is on the November ballot, now called Measure A. Many local leaders stressed the renewal as critical to continuing the widening project, as well as many other local and regional transportation ventures.
For now, Caltrans officials are focused on getting stage one of the current project off the ground.
And while many local residents may be concerned about increased congestion due to construction, Caltrans spokesman Jim Shivers urged the public to bear with any delays and use caution through construction zones.
“The driving public is a partner in this,” he said, asking motorists to slow down and be aware of signs, workers and construction vehicles.
“All of these people working out there have families,” Shivers said. “They all want to go home safe at the end of the day too.”