SBCAG Marks 60 Years, Says Billion-Dollar Highway 101 Project ‘Almost Done’

Sixty years of regional cooperation were on display at the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors this week, and the milestone came with a payoff that South Coast commuters can see from the freeway itself: the roughly billion-dollar Highway 101 widening project is, in the words of the agency running it, "almost done."

The Board of Supervisors honored the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments with a resolution Tuesday recognizing the agency's six-decade legacy, as Noozhawk first reported. The recognition doubled as a progress report on the county's largest public works effort in a generation — the addition of a third, peak-hour carpool lane along Highway 101 between Santa Barbara and the Ventura County line.

"Some things work better when we work on them together," SBCAG Executive Director Marjie Kirn told the board.

How It Started: A Parks Partnership That Grew

The organization that became SBCAG traces its roots to 1966, when it was created as a regional partnership to pursue parks funding. It took its current form as the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments in 1990. Today its professional staff works alongside a board of elected officials — all five county supervisors and representatives of all eight cities in the county — that meets regularly to advance transportation projects and other improvements crossing jurisdictional lines.

That structure has proved to be more than bureaucratic housekeeping. Local voters have twice backed the agency's mission with their wallets, approving Measure D in 1989 and Measure A in 2008. Those local tax dollars served as matching funds to pull down far larger sums from Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Measure A, a half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements, passed with 79% of the vote and was expected to generate roughly $1 billion in funding in 2010 dollars. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the agency's Measure A report shows about $19 million of those revenues went to the Highway 101 project, $22 million to North County projects, and $19 million to South Coast projects.

The leverage is most visible on the 101 project itself. Of the project's approximately $1 billion budget, more than $760 million comes from state and federal sources — money Santa Barbara County could never have secured alone, Kirn noted.

The Finish Line for 101 — In Stages

The widening, which adds a peak-hour carpool lane aimed at relieving the South Coast's longstanding bottlenecks, has been a lesson in patience. Construction has gradually shifted northbound over the years, and the timeline Kirn laid out Tuesday gives residents a concrete map of what remains.

Work in Montecito is expected to finish later this year. The Santa Barbara segment — including the Cabrillo Boulevard interchange, long one of the project's most complex pieces — should be complete in 2028, according to Kirn.

"I know it's taken a long time and we've all been very patient," she said. "I like to say 101 is almost done."

For daily commuters who have navigated cones, K-rails, and narrowed lanes through Summerland, Carpinteria, and Montecito for years, the announcement marks the beginning of the end of the region's most disruptive construction era since the original freeway was built.

Beyond the South Coast: Measure A at Work Countywide

While the 101 project dominates attention on the South Coast, SBCAG's portfolio stretches across the county's dramatically different communities — a point Kirn emphasized in her remarks to the board.

In North County, Measure A funds are backing a Highway 135 corridor study serving Santa Maria and Orcutt, a joint effort with Caltrans, the county, and the city of Santa Maria. In the Santa Ynez Valley, local groups are collaborating on a planned 9-mile multiuse trail.

"The projects are very different, just as the communities they serve are very different, but it's the same idea that brought us together 60 years ago," Kirn said — the recognition that neighboring jurisdictions accomplish more together than apart.

Supervisors Praise a Rare Institution

The resolution drew warm remarks from supervisors, particularly Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, who called the SBCAG Board of Directors "one of my favorite meetings to go to."

Lavagnino pointed to the overwhelming passage of Measure A as evidence of public confidence in the agency. "People have put their trust in you," he said to Kirn and her staff. "SBCAG continues to deliver" by completing projects year after year, he added.

What It Means for Residents

For Santa Barbara residents, the week's recognition is more than a ceremonial pat on the back. It underscores that the region's approach — pooling local tax dollars to attract state and federal matching funds — has produced tangible results at a scale no single city or the county alone could achieve.

The immediate practical takeaway is the construction calendar. Montecito drivers should see work wrap up by the end of this year, while those who use the Santa Barbara segment, including the Cabrillo Boulevard interchange, have a longer runway, with completion projected for 2028.

Meanwhile, the agency's next chapter is already taking shape in the Highway 135 corridor study in the North County and the Santa Ynez Valley trail effort — signs that the collaborative model born in a 1960s parks partnership, and refined through decades of transportation work, remains the region's playbook for getting big things built.

Information from [Noozhawk](https://www.noozhawk.com/sbcag-marks-60-years-says-billion-dollar-highway-101-project-almost-done/) was used in this report.