The City of Santa Barbara plans to conduct two community outreach meetings about the Milpas Street at U.S. Highway 101 Operational Improvements Project. This project is important for the safe and successful completion of the U.S. Highway 101 Widening Project. It will address expected traffic issues from the widening project and enhance traffic flow on Milpas Street between the U.S. Highway 101 southbound on- and off-ramps.
The first meeting will be online via Zoom on February 21, 2024. The second meeting will be at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara on February 28, 2024. These meetings will allow community members to learn about the project and ask questions.
The project will widen Milpas Street at the Milpas and Hutash Streets intersection’s northeast corner. This will create a new dedicated southbound left-turn lane onto eastbound Hutash Street, allowing U.S. Highway 101 on- and off-ramp traffic to move simultaneously when the new left turn lane is clear.
Other improvements include modifying traffic signals at the Milpas and Hutash Streets intersection to optimize signal timing and reduce wait times. The project will also extend the existing median south of the U.S. Highway 101 underpass to the Milpas and Cacique Streets intersection. This will prevent left turns from southbound Milpas Street onto eastbound Cacique Street, reducing southbound off-ramp traffic queueing onto southbound U.S. Highway 101.