Anonymous
Source: Caltrans
Caltrans will begin construction next week to add peak-period carpool lanes in each direction of US Highway 101 between the between the City of Carpinteria and the City of Santa Barbara.
“This project will allow Caltrans to continue major improvements along this busy corridor. We are nearing completion of the US 101 Linden-Casitas Interchanges Project in Carpinteria and this new HOV project will provide connectivity to the Linden project and carpool lanes already completed in Ventura County, said Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins.
This section of US 101 is used by about 95,000 motorists per day who travel between Santa Barbara and Ventura County including commuters, truckers and visitors.
The first phase of this $700 million overall project was awarded to Granite Construction of Santa Barbara.Construction will begin on Sunday night, April 5. It is part of the “lane and train” plan developed by Caltrans and the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), which also helped fund this HOV project with local sales tax revenue. The completion date for this first phase of construction is 2021.
The public may contact the project team at www.SBROADS.COM OR CALL (805) 845-5112 or email at: info@SBROADS.com
The roadwork schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and materials or other construction-related issues. More information and updates on this project can be found at http://www.dot.ca.gov/d5/ or on Twitter via @CaltransD5
That’s a bummer! We need more lanes, not carpool lanes.
Will the Montecito NIMBYS finally have to give in when it comes to the new lanes? I sure hope so! We drivers have been screaming for this for over 20 years. I’ll be 80 before it ever gets done!
Why not construct a rail line, like the blue line in LA, between here and there instead?
Rail lines don’t work! CA people are too glued to their cars.
Glad to see the progress. Project planning around construction and closures has been excellent lately, and clear communication with public (weekly updates, responding to email comments/questions) is appreciated.
We are facing a global financial breakdown of unprecedented proportions and THIS is how Caltrans chooses to spend money that should be spent on more important and necessary projects? Jesus, Mary and Jerome! Who is the brain trust behind this total irresponsibility? We cannot allow this to happen right now.
Rex, these projects are planned over the course of decades in California (which is why they tend to be out of date by the time they are started) and bids, proposals, contract awards, logistic prep, etc take many years. If you divert money now you can be sure of several things: 1) none of the money will be available for other priorities for months, 2) most of the money is allocated, borrowed, dedicated, or granted which means you would probably never be able to spend it on other things without paying it back and/or people going to jail, 3) the project would be delayed for years (it was already years overdue when I first moved to the area in the mid seventies) while traffic continued to fester.
This may be a flawed project and the start timing is bad but better this than another decade of nothing. Trains will never solve the problem nor will commuter busses without a lot of local bus infrastructure at both ends of the corridor to feed ridership into the trains/ commuter busses.
They will be “peak period” carpool lanes like the Bay Area, not the permanent carpool lanes like LA. This should really help with the Sunday backup for all those passing thru to go back south.
Yes! If you’re rich, you shouldn’t have to drive in traffic. We will even help you pay for your $100k “zero emissions” (if you don’t think about how the battery was manufactured, how it’s charged, or how it’s disposed of) vehicle. If your not rich enough to buy a fancy impractical car, then we will make traffic worse for you, make your fuel more expensive, etc.
More FUD and misinformation from Chip.
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https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-help-to-tackle-climate-change.
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http://www.climatecentral.org/news/a-roadmap-to-climate-friendly-cars-2013-16318.
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http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/ev-emissions-tool#.VuolayjPb8t