Final stretch of Highway 101 widening project comes into focus

Transportation officials on Tuesday evening outlined plans for the Santa Barbara North segment of the U.S. Highway 101 widening project during a community meeting at Cabrillo Pavilion, marking the final phase of the long-running corridor overhaul.

The segment, which runs from Hermosillo Road to Salinas Street, is set to begin construction this spring and continue through 2028.

It represents the last remaining portion of the Highway 101: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara project, a multi-year effort to ease congestion along the South Coast. Discussions about improving the corridor date back to the 1990s.

“This is the last piece of this very large project,” said Kirsten Ayars, spokesperson for the Highway 101 project team and principal of Ayars & Associates. “When it’s complete, the corridor will be fully built out.”

Plans presented Tuesday include a new peak-period carpool lane in each direction, a full reconstruction of the Cabrillo Boulevard interchange and two new freeway bridges over Cabrillo Boulevard.

The redesign also calls for reconfigured right-hand on- and off-ramps, including a new southbound on-ramp. A roundabout is planned on Cabrillo Boulevard at the northbound Highway 101 ramps to improve traffic flow, while the southbound off-ramp at Los Patos Way near the Andree Clark Bird Refuge will be permanently closed to improve safety.

Officials said the broader reconstruction will also improve sight distance, upgrade storm drainage and introduce a quieter, longer-lasting roadway surface designed to reduce future maintenance.

The Santa Barbara North segment is the final phase of the Highway 101 widening project, following completed work in Carpinteria, Padaro and Summerland, with construction ongoing in the Montecito and Santa Barbara South segments. 

Once finished, the project will create three lanes in each direction through the corridor, eliminating the remaining two-lane bottleneck in this stretch of freeway.

“The 101 is almost done, which is great,” Santa Barbara Mayor Randy Rowse said. “This has been a long time coming, and that bottleneck has been a real issue, especially on weekends. This will finally help resolve it.”

Officials said the work has been phased so improvements can open as each segment is completed while construction continues elsewhere along the corridor, a strategy that has helped keep the project moving despite its scale.

“Any project of this size has challenges, but strong coordination between agencies has kept it moving forward,” Ayars said.

Officials also said the work is being coordinated with a separate city project to replace the Cabrillo Boulevard railroad bridge, which is expected to move forward after the new freeway ramps are opened.

During construction, two lanes of traffic in each direction will remain open during the day, with most closures scheduled at night. Ayars said nighttime work on Cabrillo Boulevard would occur in intervals tied to specific construction activities, rather than continuously.

Concerns about nighttime noise surfaced during the meeting, particularly near the Bird Refuge and along Cabrillo Boulevard.

Ayars said the loudest work, including pile driving for bridge supports, is expected to take place during the day, while construction update emails will notify the public in advance of nighttime closures and noise-producing activities. 

Maintaining traffic flow during construction remains a central priority, Ayars said. 

“The whole point is to keep freeway traffic on the freeway while we’re building a whole new freeway at the same time,” she said. “It’s a real balancing act.”

Project officials encouraged residents to sign up for construction updates at SBROADS.com or by calling 805-845-5112.