Travelers on Highway 101 near the Gaviota Pass will face the first of several delays on Sunday, as Caltrans blocks both directions of traffic for utility work.
There will be three “rolling full closures” of the highway at Gaviota State Park on Sunday and on March 6 — from 5 a.m. until 9 a.m. — with each closure expected to last 20 minutes, Caltrans District 5 spokesman Jim Shivers said.
Southern California Edison is moving power lines ahead of the Gaviota Curve Realignment Project, a year-long construction project scheduled to start in the spring.
Caltrans says there is a high collision rate in the area from drivers overcorrecting while handling the curve, which gets tighter and tighter as the roadway turns inland from the Gaviota Coast.
The collision rate there is more than five times the statewide average for similar facilities, according to a 2012 Caltrans report.
The $7 million project will realign a section of the northbound lanes 0.8 miles south of the Gaviota Tunnel to turn the multiple curves into a single curve and provide better visibility around the curve.
State Highway Operation and Protection Program money will be used to fund the project.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.