Upcoming Community Engagement Meetings for the Milpas Street at Highway 101 Operational Improvements Project

The City of Santa Barbara will hold two community outreach meetings regarding upcoming construction on the Milpas Street at U.S. Highway 101 Operational Improvements Project (Project). 

The February 21st meeting will be held online using the Zoom platform and the February 28th meeting will be held in-person at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara.

This Project is critical to the success and safe operation of the U.S. Highway 101 Widening Project (HOV Project) and will address expected traffic impacts from the HOV Project. This Project will improve traffic operations along Milpas Street between the U.S. Highway 101 southbound on- and off-ramps and will include the following improvements:

• Widening Milpas Street at the northeast corner of the Milpas and Hutash Streets intersection to provide space for a new dedicated southbound left-turn lane onto eastbound Hutash Street. This will allow U.S. Highway 101 on- and off-ramp traffic to move concurrently when no traffic is queued in the new left turn lane;
• Traffic signal modifications at the Milpas and Hutash Streets intersection to optimize signal phasing and reduce wait time at intersections; 
• Extending the existing median south of the U.S. Highway 101 underpass to the intersection of Milpas and Cacique Streets to prohibit left turns from southbound Milpas Street onto eastbound Cacique Street. This will help prevent southbound off-ramp traffic from queueing onto southbound U.S. Highway 101. Eastbound Cacique Street will have access from northbound Milpas Street via the hook off-ramp; and
• Installation of a multiuse path along Milpas Street between Cacique and Hutash Streets. This facility was a community-requested safety need to separate cyclists from vehicles due to the high traffic volumes in this area.

Public Meeting Details: 

• Virtual Meeting Room (Zoom)
  Wednesday, February 21, 2024
  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
  RSVP: https://santabarbaraca-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xan86L8ATiyXp3Wy5RTZUQ 
• In-Person Meeting
  Wednesday, February 28, 2024
  5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
  Franklin Elementary School, 1111 E. Montecito Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103 

To learn more or ask questions about the Project, please contact:  MilpasHwy101@SantaBarbaraCA.gov or visit SantaBarbaraCA.gov/MilpasHwy101.