Santa Barbara, Calif. – The California Transportation Commission approved a $132.4 million award for the Santa Barbara U.S. 101 Multimodal Corridor Project on Wednesday in Suisun City, Solano County. The approval came as part of a $2 billion investment announced by the state from the 2021 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and competitive Senate Bill 1 (SB1) grant programs.
The commission awarded Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) $132.4 million to complete construction of Highway 101 improvements and carpool lanes in Montecito and the City of Santa Barbara to the Hermosillo Road off-ramp, while also providing planned electric buses for Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District, coastal access improvements, zero emission vehicle charging and contactless card readers for the Coastal Express operated by the Ventura County Transportation Commission.
The Highway 101 Carpinteria to Santa Barbara project has a total cost of $945 million and includes substantial multimodal and highway improvements. The Road Repair and Accountability Act, widely recognized as SB1, has been a game-changer for transportation in Santa Barbara County investing $316 million into the U.S. 101 corridor. Measure A, the local transportation sales tax, is leveraging $150 million, along with a multitude of local, state, and federal funding sources to make the SB1 investments possible.“