In September, two pieces of 101 news came out within weeks of each other, and they sound like they contradict each other. On September 8, the Santa Barbara Independent quoted Justin Glover of SBRoads: "Three lanes should run through Montecito by the end of this year." That same week, the project's own closure notice, published by Edhat, said both Cabrillo Boulevard off-ramps would stay closed until summer 2028.
Both statements are true. They describe two different pieces of the same freeway. That means the detours, the queues and the temporary signal around Coast Village Road are a multi-year setup that outlasts the year-end milestone.
Two Segments Share One Stretch of Freeway
The widening is split into segments, and the line between them runs right through the Lower Village. Edhat's September update describes the Santa Barbara North segment as the stretch "between Hermosillo Rd. and Salinas St." The Cabrillo Boulevard interchange sits inside that segment, not the Montecito one.
At a September SBCAG board meeting, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported both timelines. An SBCAG report said "the overall Montecito segment is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026, weather permitting." Fred Luna, SBCAG's director of project delivery and construction, said the current phase is on track to finish "with all new lanes open in December 2028." Luna also said there may be "some additional off-traffic things that might need to get done. Then there's landscaping, of course."
| Piece of work | Where | Stated target | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montecito segment | Through Montecito | End of 2026, weather permitting | SBCAG report via News-Press, Sept. 2026 |
| Cabrillo Blvd off-ramps, both directions | Cabrillo interchange | Closed until summer 2028 | Edhat closure notice, Sept. 8, 2026 |
| All new lanes, current phase | Hermosillo Rd to Salinas St | December 2028 | Fred Luna, SBCAG, via News-Press |
| Cabrillo rail underpass widening | Cabrillo Blvd under the tracks | Anticipated start in 2028 | City of Santa Barbara via Independent |
According to the News-Press, the work in that northern segment includes reconstructing the Cabrillo Boulevard interchange and adding a carpool lane in each direction between Hermosillo Road and Salinas Street. Granite Construction is the contractor. The Independent called this phase "perhaps the most complicated." It removed the two fast-lane Cabrillo off-ramps, built two new bridges over Cabrillo Boulevard, added roundabouts at Olive Mill Road and San Ysidro Road, and closed the Los Patos exit.
What Finishing the Montecito Segment Changes
The year-end milestone ends the two-lane bottleneck. The Independent puts traffic on this part of the 101 at about 109,000 vehicles a day. It also reports that the 12-mile drive from Santa Barbara to Carpinteria can take as long as 40 minutes during the roadwork. A third lane through Montecito is the first direct fix for that trip time.
One landmark is also on its way out. The News-Press reported that the concrete "batch plant" and rock-crushing facility on the southbound side of the highway "will close and disappear" as the project winds down. No removal date has been given.
According to the Independent, the third lane will be followed by "another couple years of median and pavement work, plus landscaping." As of the September notice, crews were still building the permanent concrete median barrier between Olive Mill Road and San Ysidro Road. The speed limit through the construction area was reduced to 55 mph. The SBRoads Montecito project page says landscaping continues into 2027 and that night closures with signed detours may still be needed. That page's timeline was last updated in November 2025.
So the freeway gets faster at year-end, but the work doesn't stop. And the parts that affect local errands most are the ones on the 2028 schedule.
Where the Cabrillo Traffic Goes Now
The southbound Cabrillo/Hot Springs off-ramp closed on June 13, 2026. Drivers were sent to the newly opened Spring/Olive Mill southbound off-ramp, which has stop signs at Olive Mill and Spring. The northbound Cabrillo off-ramp is closed on the same timeline. As of the September 8 notice, the official detours to Coast Village Road and the Montecito Country Mart are these:
- Northbound: Use the Hermosillo Road off-ramp. The Cabrillo Boulevard off-ramp is closed until summer 2028.
- Southbound: Use the Spring/Olive Mill Road off-ramp. The Cabrillo Boulevard off-ramp is closed until summer 2028.
- Southbound, Country Mart's suggested route: The Montecito Country Mart tells visitors to take exit 96B for South Milpas, then reach the Mart via Old Coast Highway or Cabrillo Boulevard.
- Under the freeway on Cabrillo: Flaggers will intermittently run daytime one-way traffic beneath Highway 101 for equipment and material deliveries. Expect short delays.
The project's closure notices include one rule that helps with planning. "Consecutive ramps in the same direction will not be closed at the same time (unless noted)." The goal is that drivers can always use a ramp before or after a closure. In September, this played out on back-to-back days. The northbound San Ysidro off-ramp closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 9, with Olive Mill as the detour. The next day, Olive Mill closed and San Ysidro served as the detour. Short closures like these change week to week, and the latest schedule is posted at SBRoads.com.
The Signal at Hermosillo Sits on the Detour
The northbound detour lands drivers at Hermosillo, the same corner where a new traffic signal went up this spring. The Montecito Journal reported in July that the Coast Village Road at Hermosillo Drive signal was installed in April and is "purported to be 'temporary.'" The Journal quoted a statement from the Montecito Community Connect Group: "The gridlock on Coast Village Road due to the new traffic signal extends the full length of Montecito from Sheffield past the tennis courts approaching Salinas and up and along Hot Springs, up San Ysidro and on to East Valley Road."
The complaints kept coming after summer. A September 8 letter in the Montecito Journal described "heavy traffic, daily now" going into the roundabout, and summed it up in one line: "The road is all long lines."
Since the July article, there has been no published report of a timing change, a removal date or an official response about the Hermosillo signal. For now, the signal is still described as temporary, and no end date has been announced.
The Cabrillo Underpass Runs on a Third Clock
Even after the freeway work around Cabrillo wraps up, the street below has a separate project ahead of it. The Independent reported that the City of Santa Barbara is leading a $50 million widening of the railroad underpass on Cabrillo Boulevard. That project is tied to finishing the southbound 101 on-ramp there. The city has already finished the roundabout at Los Patos. Supervising engineer Eric Goodall said Union Pacific was about 30 percent through its review of the rail work, which includes removing the rail bridge at Los Patos, and he expects a start date in 2028.
The finished project would add pedestrian and bike routes between Montecito and the beach. It also means the Cabrillo corridor has three separate timelines: the off-ramps through summer 2028, the new lanes through December 2028, and the underpass starting in 2028.
Coast Village Road Keeps Filling In Anyway
Businesses have kept opening on Coast Village Road through all of this. The Country Mart's directory page for one of its newest tenants posts the 101 exit-closure advisory directly under the store's hours.
- La Ligne had a soft opening scheduled for July 27 at the Montecito Country Mart, on the same side as Alma Fonda Fina. The Montecito Journal reported that the brand planned recurring in-store events instead of a grand opening. The Mart lists it at 1026D Coast Village Road, open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Marfa Stance, founded by British designer Georgia Dant, took the space between Alma Fonda Fina and Rori's Creamery that was once the I Heart Montecito Art Gallery. The brand's fall 2026 store page lists the shop as open at 1024H Coast Village Road. In August, the Journal described it as more of a pop-up running through the end-of-year holidays, so it may not be permanent.
- Margaret O'Leary opened a knitwear boutique at 1235 Coast Village Road, as the Montecito Journal reported in its October 5 edition.
- Sally Boy's Montecito is planned for 1080 Coast Village Road, the corner space The Well left in December 2025. According to the Montecito Journal's August roundup, Dave Cantin took over the lease to turn it into a pizza-slice shop with a market and an early-morning coffee counter, and Kevin Moore is the architect on the renovation. The Journal quoted Cantin from an interview with Siteline: "Sally Boy's Montecito won't have any seating inside, there will be tables and chairs on the rear patio. Construction should start by late summer, and the goal is to open before the end of the year." No opening date has been confirmed since that August report.
For a southbound trip to the Mart, the route posted on the Mart's own page is exit 96B to South Milpas, then Old Coast Highway or Cabrillo Boulevard. Coming from the south, the route is the Hermosillo off-ramp and the signal at Coast Village Road. Both routes stay in place until the Cabrillo off-ramps reopen, which is scheduled for summer 2028.
If you own near Coast Village Road and you're deciding whether to sell before the Cabrillo work wraps up or after, a construction timeline is part of that decision. Crawford Speier can walk you through how buyers are approaching the Lower Village right now. Start by requesting a home valuation.
