Closures planned for Highway 101 project
CARPINTERIA — Several lane closures are planned this week as work continues on the Linden and Casitas Pass Highway 101 widening project in Carpinteria.
From 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. Monday, one northbound lane will be closed from Bailard Avenue to North Padaro Lane. The closure will also include the onramps and offramps at South Padaro and Santa Claus lanes. Similar intermittent overnight closures are planned Monday through Thursday, according to Caltrans officials.
From 10 p.m. tonight to 7 a.m. Monday, one southbound lane will be closed from Santa Claus Lane to Linden Avenue. The closure will also include the offramps at South Padaro and Santa Claus lanes
From 8 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, one southbound lane will be closed from Sheffield Drive to Linden Avenue, as well as the onramps and offramps at Evans and Wallace avenues.
The southbound onramp at Sheffield Drive will be closed for the duration of the project, with an anticipated reopening date set for 2023. The offramp at Sheffield Drive will be closed for up to 16 months and could reopen by the end of 2021.
The onramp and offramp at Reynolds Avenue will be closed up to 16 weeks, but could reopen by the end of the month.
Flaggers will be in place to direct traffic at the Reynolds and Carpinteria avenues intersection during morning peak periods. New stop signs will be installed to create a four-way, stop-controlled intersection at the southbound 101 offramp and San Ysidro Road. Flaggers will assist in this area as needed.
Crews will also continue excavating near the Sheffield Drive interchange and installing shoring piles to support the construction zone. In addition, work on the side support for the new southbound bridge and retaining walls will continue.
Work is also ongoing for the Evans Avenue undercrossing and the North Padaro Lane interchange.
Crews are working on drainage improvements on southbound 101 between Carpinteria and Reynolds avenues, as well as the highway ramps at Reynolds Avenue. Electrical work is also being done on the Reynolds freeway ramps.
Over the next five weeks, in compliance with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife requirements related to bird nesting, crews will undertake pre-construction work to clear trees and vegetation so that construction can begin on the Padaro segment of the project. The project will add a new, third freeway lane in each direction and new bridges over Toro and Arroyo Parida creeks. At the South Padaro Lane Undercrossing, the bridge and on- and off-ramps will be replaced. At the North Padaro Lane Interchange, new on- and off-ramp improvements will be built. There will also be three new sound walls built.
The majority of work will occur in the median and near the South Padaro/Santa Claus Lane on- and off-ramps.
— Mitchell White
Crews rescue to injured hikers

Personnel with the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team rescued a pair of injured hikers on Saturday on Rattlesnake Trail in Santa Barbara.
SANTA BARBARA — Personnel with the Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue team rescued a pair of injured hikers on Saturday on Rattlesnake Trail in Santa Barbara.
Around 9:15 a.m. Saturday, the team was dispatched to the trail and were joined by county fire units and paramedics. The hiker was located about a mile up the trail after suffering a knee injury, according to authorities.
Teams packaged the patient and transported them down the trail.
Around 12:50 p.m., the units returned for a second rescue, locating the patient about 1.5 miles up the trail.
Both were transported to a local hospital for treatment.
— Mitchell White