US 101 HOV Lane Improvements

The $66M project widened the Ventura Freeway from Mobile Pier undercrossing to Casitas Pass Road project, constructed a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane, sound walls, and a bike path along the coast. Additional elements included 105,000 cubic yards (CY) of roadway excavation; 46,100 CY Class III aggregate base; 30,000 CY lean concrete base (LCB); 54,000 CY jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP); 25,000 tons hot mix asphalt (HMA); hydroseeding; drainage systems; over three miles of bike path and railing; 33,000 linear feet of concrete barrier; and vehicle classification and ramp metering systems.

The project provides drivers and bikers with six miles in each direction of new HOV lanes, a new pedestrian undercrossing with direct beach access at La Conchita, and four miles of a Class I bicycle path next to the Pacific Ocean from Rincon to Mussel Shoals. As the most congested corridor on the Central Coast of California, between Mussel Shoals in Ventura County and the City of Santa Barbara, this second phase of the total 16-mile corridor HOV lane expansion was greatly anticipated to relieve the heavy congestion. The corridor is vital to providing access for agricultural business, military and defense-related business, tourism, and daily commuters. These are the first carpool lanes ever opened on the Central Coast of California.