Highway 154 was still closed to traffic Tuesday morning as Caltrans assesses damage to the road and determines how long emergency repairs will take to complete.
The highway was closed from the roundabout at Highway 246, in Santa Ynez Valley, to Highway 192 in Santa Barbara, due to tension cracks that appeared in the roadway Thursday.
Caltrans was allowing local and business traffic within that closure, but no vehicles are able to travel through the damaged roadway area of San Antonio Creek Road and Painted Cave Road.
Stabilization work on the highway continued Monday night, with no estimate on reopening the roadway, Caltrans District 5 spokesperson Genelle Padilla said.
One of the issues is that crews were already doing emergency construction on that length of the highway when the tension cracks appeared.
To address the damage to the road, workers are drilling vertically and installing pylons to stabilize the road. Additionally, they are filling the cracks in the ground.
Padilla said that Caltrans is not sure how the cracks will affect the timeline of the previous construction.
As construction continues, Padilla also stated that residents can keep track of road closures and changes on the Caltrans QuickMap.
Caltrans is encouraging drivers to use Highway 101 as a detour until repairs are completed.
Later Monday, the agency reopened the second lane of southbound Highway 101 through the construction zone near Buellton and Gaviota. It should help alleviate some of the extra traffic caused by the Highway 154 closure, Caltrans said.
The county closed Old San Marcos Road from Cathedral Oaks Road in Santa Barbara to Highway 154 to stop drivers using it as a detour on the Santa Barbara side of the closure.
As of Monday afternoon, the road was open to residents but closed to through traffic, according to the Public Works Department.
Second District County Supervisor Laura Capps said that her office is communicating with Caltrans and is taking the situation seriously.
“(Highway 154) is a well-traveled road and in the mountains and safety always has to be the the number one priority,” Capps told Noozhawk.
She said people in her district seem to understand the need for the closure and just hope that the road is “opened as soon as possible.”
Gina Fischer, a spokesperson for Third District Supervisor, Joan Hartmann, said that residents within the closure area should have a clear evacuation plan in case of emergency or in case they need to travel.
She stated that other routes are open, but to remember to plan for longer travel times.
Caltrans’ QuickMap feature showed the closure of Highway 154 as of Monday, but some mapping programs (like Google Maps) didn’t show the roadway as closed.
Authorities activated signage along Highway 101 in the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara to notify drivers.
