SANTA BARBARA U.S. Highway 101 at Olive Mill Road will experience full overnight closures next week as Caltrans works to replace bridge rails on the highway’s Olive Mill overcrossing, which were damaged during the Jan. 9, 2018 debris flow. According to a press release, in order to allow for the removal of a wooden support structure underneath the existing bridge, Northbound U.S. Highway 101 will be fully closed on January 23, followed by a closure of Southbound 101 on January 24. They will be closed between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Motorists can instead take a detour on Coast Village Road between Hot Springs Road and Olive Mill Road to reach U.S. 101.
In addition to the repairs at the Olive Mill overcrossing, Caltrans is conducting a $30 million project to rebuild and repair six bridges along State Route 192 with a completion goal of early this year. The San Ysidro Creek Bridge, Romero Canyon Creek Bridge, Arroyo Paredon Bridge, and Toro Canyon Creek Bridge are expected to be completed by the end of March, with Romero Canyon Creek, Toro Canyon Creek, and Arroyo Paredon to re-open to traffic by mid-February. The San Ysidro Creek Bridge remains open during construction.
Work on the Montecito Creek Bridge continues seven days a week between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and is expected to re-open to traffic with some restrictions in July. Roadwork and utility work on the Toro Creek Bridge is ongoing with one-way reversing traffic control until the project is complete. All lanes are expected to re-open in June.
