Tag archives: freeway

101 Freeway Construction Closures
By Nick Schou   |   April 22, 2021

Northbound Highway 101 Sunday nights, 9 pm – 5 am, 1 lane:  Bailard Avenue to Santa Claus Lane and N Padaro Lane to Sheffield Drive, on- and off-ramps at Bailard Avenue, Casitas Pass Road, Linden Avenue, and Santa Monica Road • Monday-Thursday nights, 8 pm – 5 am, 1 lane:  Bailard Avenue to Santa Claus […]

101 Freeway Widening Construction Update, Feb. 21 – March 6
By Nick Schou   |   February 26, 2021

Closures on Northbound Highway 101 Monday night, Mar. 1, 8:00 pm – 5:00 am, 1 lane:  N. Padaro Ln. to Sheffield Dr., on- and off-ramps at Evans Ave, Ortega Hill Rd, Sheffield Dr. Mon. – Wed. daytime, Feb. 22 – 24, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, on-ramp at Linden Ave. Southbound Highway 101 Mon. night, […]

Did You Know That the 101 Freeway Widening Project Has an Aquatic Resource Biologist?
By Nick Schou   |   February 25, 2021

In this, the Journal’s third profile of the people who work behind the scenes in the biggest infrastructure project to hit Montecito in recent memory, we meet Sarah Sandstrom, Caltrans’ aquatic resource manager. According to Tim Gubbins, Caltrans District 5 Director, Sandstrom is a key player in the agency’s effort to protect the environment as […]

Longtime Montecito Cafe Waitress Subject of a Local GoFundMe Drive
By Nick Schou   |   February 18, 2021

A week ago, the former manager of the Montecito Inn’s Café, Arielle Chang, manager of the marketplace, gave notice to the Journal about the fate of Barbara Dutra, a manager of the restaurant who has fallen on hard times with stage four colon cancer. “Barbara has worked with us for fifteen years,” said Chang. “She […]

Meet Dave Emerson, Interim Highway 101 Corridor Manager
By Nick Schou   |   February 4, 2021

Last time inthis ongoing series of profiles of the people leading the 101 Freeway widening project currently taking place in Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito, we introduced you to the project’s head honcho, Fred Luna, director of project delivery and construction for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. This month, we introduce readers to another […]

101 Freeway Construction Holiday Update
By Nick Schou   |   December 31, 2020

Note to readers: This update covers the time period from Dec. 20, 2020 to Jan. 9, 2021. Crews will not work on Dec. 24, 25, 31, and Jan. 1 in observance of the holidays. Drive safe and enjoy the break! Closures: Northbound Highway 101 Sunday nights, 9:00 pm – 5:00 am, 1 lane: N Padaro […]

Meet the Head Honcho for 101 Freeway Widening Project
By Nick Schou   |   December 31, 2020

Assuming that Montecito makes it through the next few years without any major wildfires, floods, mudslides, earthquakes, or tsunamis (okay, so that last potential natural disaster seems about as likely as a meteor strike), then the biggest story that will affect everyone in town for the foreseeable future is the 101 Freeway widening project. With […]

San Ysidro Roundabout Moves Forward
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 18, 2020

After over 25 hours of digging through the details of the San Ysidro Road Roundabout project, the Montecito Planning Commission approved the project last week in a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Susan Keller was the dissenting vote, saying the project, in her opinion, is not consistent with the Montecito Community Plan. The project has been an […]

Montecito Planning Commission Hears San Ysidro Roundabout
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 30, 2020

Last week, the Montecito Planning Commission heard from County Planning & Development and Public Works staff regarding the proposed roundabout at San Ysidro Road and North Jameson Lane. It was the first time the project was in front of the MPC, after receiving positive comments at two prior Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR) meetings. […]

Highway Widening Moves Forward
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 2, 2020

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Caltrans has announced that the first phase of the highway widening from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara will begin the evening of Sunday, April 5. This phase of the project is called Highway 101: Carpinteria, and it will add a peak-period carpool lane to the freeway in each direction within the City […]

What’s Up with the Highway 101 Widening?
By Bob Hazard   |   August 8, 2019

Last week, I had lunch with the two people who will either make your life more miserable or much happier over the next 10 years. They are the principal players in the widening of the US 101 as it slowly migrates northward toward Montecito. Scott Eades is the Caltrans point person designated as the Santa […]

The Need for Forward Thinking on the 101
By Bob Hazard   |   December 20, 2018

To plan for the future, it is helpful to recall the past. Montecito’s relationship with the 101 highway dates back 92 years to 1927 when residents approached the State Division of Highways asking them to pave the two dirt lanes through Montecito. John Jameson led a crusade to design America’s first scenic parkway, using planted […]

Land Use Discusses 101 Widening
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   October 11, 2018

At their meeting last week, the Montecito Association (MA) Land Use Committee received a status update on the expansion of Highway 101. Matt Dobberteen, Alternative Transportation manager with Public Works, said that a design team has been hard at work refining the design of the highway widening through landscaping, hardscaping, and signage. “Because it is […]

Hats off to Alison and Sharon
By Montecito Journal   |   June 14, 2018

Many quiet heroes of these last few months have escaped the deserved visibility that first responders and other notables have received in this and other local media. But, we must try to name some of these quieter-but-not-lesser heroes, and thank them as best we can and as frequently as they come to mind. From my […]

The Ongoing Onramp Disaster
By Montecito Journal   |   November 16, 2017

The recent two-part editorials on Coast Village Road (MJ #23/43 & 23/45) was very interesting. You did, however, have an error in the recent Part 2. You said that it was the City of Santa Barbara that caused the closure of the southbound 101 on-ramp and that it was Santa Barbara city officials’ contention that […]