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Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Das Williams — Progress to Finish the 101 Project

by Community Contributor • August 8, 2023 • Comments Off

Securing Investment to Finish the 101 Project

Good news! We just got closer to finishing the 101 freeway project. Recently we celebrated the award of $132.4 million to finish the Montecito segment of the project. This funding comes from the State SB1 gas tax and is also some of the first funding from the Biden infrastructure bill. Receiving this funding so quickly means we will avoid the project timeline being drawn out and just get it done. The best part is this funding will also go towards new electric buses for Santa Barbara MTD, more electric vehicle chargers, and pedestrian/bike path connectivity in Summerland and Montecito.

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101 Project Updates

Summerland

The Santa Claus Lane Bikeway, located between Santa Claus Lane and Carpinteria Avenue between the freeway and railroad tracks, is temporarily open through Labor Day weekend. After Labor Day weekend, the bikeway will close for final installation of permanent safety barrier installation. Stay tuned for a celebration and ribbon cutting soon! Additionally, the new northbound on-ramp at South Padaro/Santa Claus Lane will open on August 18.

Montecito

Crews will continue night work on the median islands for the Olive Mill Roundabout. Please expect night noise and flaggers directing traffic.

Carpinteria

Expect daytime carpool lane closures northbound and southbound near Bailard Ave for landscaping work.

Santa Claus Lane bikeway

San Ysidro overcrossing

¡Viva La Fiesta!

Viva la Fiesta! I had a great time this week at Fiesta, attending La Fiesta Pequeña, Noches de Ronda (one of my favorites!), many fiesta parties. And I got to cap off the week at El Desfile Histórico and El Desfile de los Niños! This year was especially fun to have my wife and daughters join us in the parade – and to get to watch my daughter Khaya perform flamenco with Maria Bermudez Dance Studio.

It Pays To Go Electric

I hear all the time from folks who want to take action to save our environment but aren’t always sure how. It is challenging to research electric vehicle or heat pump technologies and incentives. Here are two important tools that can help make that task easier.

Climate Resilient SBC Challenge – Learn about which actions you can take will have the biggest impact

Rewiring America Savings Calculator – Learn about grants, rebates, and incentives to electrify your home, vehicle, and more

Washington Post:

A Tale of Two Road Trips

The Washington Post recently conducted a comparison of the cost of fuelling electric vehicles and gas-powered vehicles. The results show that California ranks in the top 10 of States where drivers see the most fuel savings by driving EVs. That’s not to mention that EV car trips account for 5 times less emissions than even the most fuel-efficient gas vehicles. As an owner of a Chevy Bolt I can attest that my family’s road trip costs are cheaper! As your representative on Central Coast Community Energy, we have worked to make rebates available to make Electric Vehicle ownership even more affordable. You can find more info about how you could receive up to $4,000 in rebates here.

“The bottom line? In all 50 states, it’s cheaper for the everyday American to fill up with electrons.”

Read the article

Back To School Health Fair This Week

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is excited to present a series of “Back to School Health Fair” events hosted at three of our Health Care Centers throughout the county during National Health Center Week.

The “Back to School Health Fair” events will provide free information on how to stay healthy, conduct free health screenings (i.e., blood pressure and sports physicals), and offer free or low-cost COVID and Mpox immunizations. Open to all Santa Barbara County community members, including families and individuals with no insurance. Staff will be on-site to link families to medical insurance and other resources that they may be eligible for, which they can then follow up with a provider in their community.

SANTA BARBARA:

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Santa Barbara Health Care Center

345 Camino del Remedio, Santa Barbara

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