A Wider Highway 101 Will Be Built Through Montecito
Two Appeals over Sound Walls Defeated
Two Montecito residents delivered one last blast against the 101 Widening Project, a proposal argued over since it was first proposed in the early 1990s. In their appeal to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Scott Smigel and Bruce Mackenzie argued that without sound walls between the highway and their homes, they faced increased noise and air pollution. Further, they said the flood map Caltrans and County Public Works had used to determine that a sound wall would cause 31 parcels to flood was in error.
The last section of the 16-mile highway project — between the Olive Mill overpass and the Romero Creek Bridge — will complete a carpool lane from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara. Defending the project, Joe Erwin of Caltrans said they had considered all the ways to allow floodwaters to pass — gates, stilts, holes, collapsing and staggered walls — but none met federal standards, which were necessary for funding.
Appellant Smigel, who lives just north of the highway, said the highway noises are already “excruciating.” Nearly a dozen public speakers who lived in the area agreed with him.
