Just in time for the work-week commute, motorists can soon use Highway 154 between the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara.
Caltrans announced that the state highway, which has been closed to nonresidents of the area in and around the Cave Fire for nearly a week, will reopen by 6 p.m. Sunday.
Drivers should expect traffic control when traveling through a section of the highway.
Traffic control will occur from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, according to Jim Shivers, a Caltrans District 5 spokesman.
Motorists are urged to reduce speed from Painted Cave to San Antonio Creek roads so Caltrans engineers can “assess the hillside,” Shivers said in a tweet.
Fire-damaged sections of guardrail needed to be fixed before the roadway could be reopened to the general public.
A section of Highway 154 was shut down Monday night after the Cave Fire started in the Los Padres National Forest and burned south toward Santa Barbara and Goleta.
Caltrans previously had estimated it would be a week, and perhaps longer, before the highway was reopened.
The agency contracted with Granite Construction of Santa Barbara for a $1.3 million emergency project to repair the guardrails.
The Cave Fire, which ignited late Monday afternoon along East Camino Cielo east of Highway 154, had blackened 3,126 acres and was 90% contained on Sunday afternoon.
More than 50 personnel were assigned to the incident as of Sunday, according to Santa Barbara County fire officials.
Click here for information from Caltrans on highway conditions.
Click here to check Santa Barbara County road closures.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
