Caltrans and Granite Construction have been working on – and improving – Highway 101 through innovation and great paving work since 2012. In Phase 2 of the U.S. 101 Santa Barbara to Mussel Shoals Project, Granite widened six miles of Highway 101 from Mussel Shoals to Carpinteria and added carpool lanes in both directions.

New Santa Claus Lane bikepath work takes place alongside the new CRCP on Highway 101.

Currently in Phase 4, Granite is working with Caltrans as Construction Manager/General Contractor (CMGC) in order to accelerate construction and shorten the overall duration of the project. Caltrans Construction Engineer Jason Kline reports that Highway 101 in Phase 4 is being expanded to three lanes of Continually Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) in each direction, from Montecito to Carpinteria, and making it a consistent, minimum six-lane highway from northern Goleta all the way to Los Angeles.

With new CRCP lanes in place on the left and a new JPCP off-ramp on the right, the crews prep the dividing gore.

The project team, in Phase 4, managed work over eight creeks, and built six new bridges over waterways. Carefully working in environmentally sensitive areas, the crews built the new highway up against the adjacent railroad line, cliffs, and along the precipice of the Pacific Ocean. Other challenges included working through congested neighborhoods, which involved dealing with limited right-of-ways and noise restrictions to accommodate the adjacent, close-by homes.

Rock blanket installation is underway in the gore of the northbound Hermosillo off-ramp. The rock blanket is a contrasting surface treatment that is traversable and uses native stone to match the hills of Santa Barbara. New CRCP lanes are on the right in the photo, and the new JPCP off ramp is to the left of the rock blanket in the center. Northbound vehicles will be utilizing this new alignment by Sunday afternoon, June 29th.

Funding cycle approvals from the California Transportation Commission required a little creativity and segmentation of Phase 4 into six segments: 4B, 4C,4DS, 4DN, 4ES, and 4EN. Working with a single contractor in a CMGC contract, enabled Caltrans and Granite the flexibility to accomplish this without impacting the schedule. Jason Kline indicated that pricing of the last segment in the series, 4EN, should be determined this summer, enabling work on it to begin in the spring of 2026, with completion in late 2028.

Working at night to build the new CRCP lanes minimizes impacting Highway 101 traffic.

Caltrans and Granite are currently building segments 4DS, 4DN, and 4ES in the affluent City of Montecito, home to such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Rob Lowe, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, and Adam Levine. New CRCP in both directions on these segments should be complete by mid-July, as well as three new bridges that were design to built in two stages instead of three, further reducing the length of the schedule.

Northbound view of the new Casitas Bridge over Highway 101.

To date, Granite and Caltrans have completed 7.6 miles of additional HOV lanes and full reconstruction of the 10.9 Phase-4-Project-miles, pouring 169,246 cubic yards of CRCP to create wider travel lanes and the addition of new carpool lanes, plus two new interchanges, and the construction of new sound walls and creek bridges. The project is significantly improving sight distances and enhancing aesthetics throughout the corridor.

Big thanks and a tip of the hard hat to Caltrans Construction Engineer Jason Kline for his contributions to this story, including the photos.