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CARPINTERIA, CALIFORNIA, December 12, 2024 – New carpool and high occupancy vehicle lanes built as part of the Highway 101: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara project will open this week and late January between Santa Monica Road in Carpinteria and Sheffield Drive in Montecito. The northbound carpool lane will open Friday, December 13. The southbound carpool lane will open the third week in January.
The new lanes are peak-period carpool or High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to help reduce traffic congestion. Carpool lane designations run from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. requiring vehicles to have more than one passenger during those high traffic periods. The public is invited to contact the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) for personalized commuter support and accessing free trial transit passes for carpools, vanpools, and public transportation.
“The opening of carpool lanes is an exciting milestone for the Highway 101 corridor project between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara,” said SBCAG Executive Director Marjie KIRN. “With these improvements, commuters can access faster bus services and convenient carpool and vanpool travel options. We encourage everyone to take advantage of these new lanes as we work together to create a more efficient transportation system and reduce traffic congestion.”
“Anyone who lives in Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito knows that traffic congestion on Highway 101 impacts daily life. We have all been contributing to our local transportation sales tax to make these freeway improvements a reality, so it is very exciting that we will all get an early holiday present,” said First District Supervisor Das Williams.
The opening of the new freeway lanes is part of the overall improvements in the Padaro segment that include new bridges at Toro and Arroyo Parida Creeks, updated on- and off-ramps at North and South Padaro Lanes, a new clear-span bridge at South Padaro/Santa Claus Lane, and three new sound walls. Another key improvement is a tribute to World War I Veterans that is located between Carpinteria and North Padaro Lane.
In 1928, American Legion Post No. 49 in collaboration with local Boy Scouts planted oak trees and laid plaques for World War I Veterans within this area of the highway. Over the years, many of the trees perished and the plaques went missing. The project designates a new Blue Star Memorial Highway area and includes a specially designed median safety barrier with oak leaves and blue star plaques. New Blue Star Memorial Highway signs, sponsored by the Channel Islands Garden Club, will be installed in each direction. In 2025, the project team will plant 108 new oak trees, grown from the acorns of the original oaks, along the freeway shoulders and at Loon Point Park.
“The opening of these seven new miles of new carpool lanes on the South Coast of Santa Barbara is a significant milestone and the result of years of coordination between Caltrans, SBCAG, the City of Carpinteria, and the County of Santa Barbara to achieve this goal. In addition to the added carpool lanes, bicycle, pedestrian, and local transit connectivity has been improved throughout the corridor. This has all been made possible through a mix of local, state, and federal funding that includes Santa Barbara County’s local Measure A transportation sales tax, and Senate Bill 1, a California gas tax,” said California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 5 Director Scott Eades.
The new lanes connect to existing carpool lanes that were opened on Highway 101 in Carpinteria in 2022. There is ongoing construction to add carpool lanes from Sheffield Drive in Montecito to Hermosillo Road in Santa Barbara. Efforts to secure funding for completing the project are underway that would extend carpool lanes to Sycamore Creek north of Cabrillo Boulevard in Santa Barbara. When completed, these efforts will result the first Santa Barbara County HOV lanes that connect carpool lanes in Mussel Shoals in Ventura County to the City of Santa Barbara.
The public is encouraged to find more information and sign up for biweekly construction updates on the project’s website at www.SBROADS.com, or by calling (805) 845.5112, or emailing info@SBROADS.com.
The Highway 101: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara project is a partnership between Caltrans, the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, County of Santa Barbara, and the Cities of Carpinteria and Santa Barbara with state funding approved by the California Transportation Commission.
About Highway 101: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara
The Highway 101: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara project is made up of five segments to rebuild the freeway with carpool lanes and update the roadway to current safety standards. The project is undertaken by Caltrans and SBCAG in cooperation with local agencies to add a new carpool lane in each direction between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara (10.9 miles). The project will improve bridges, interchanges, on- and off-ramps, and add sound walls. Funding of approximately $700 million has been secured for the Carpinteria, Padaro, Summerland, Montecito, and Santa Barbara South segments. SB1, state and federal funds, and Measure A are all funding sources for these segments.
