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Caltrans completes Highway 101 carpool lane project
CARPINTERIA/SANTA BARBARA — The new carpool lanes between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara, largely funded from Senate Bill 1 and Measure A (the Santa Barbara County sales tax), are the first of their kind in the county.
The Caltrans project added peak-period carpool lanes in each direction between Bailard Avenue and the southbound Highway 101 on-ramp at Santa Claus Lane in Carpinteria. This section of Highway 101 is used by about 95,000 commuters, truckers, and tourists per day, who travel between Santa Barbara and Ventura County and throughout the coast, according to Caltrans.
“By opening new carpool lanes, we are encouraging people to rideshare and use transit during the most heavily congested periods of the day. This important SB 1 project along the US 101 corridor will serve the people of the South Coast and beyond,” Caltrans District 5 Director Tim Gubbins said in a news release.
This project is the first part of a larger $700 million effort on the Central Coast.
You can view the video here: youtube.com/watch?v=xyLzYXJPJb8.
— Katherine Zehnder
Detectives seize dangerous drugs during warrant serviceDetectives from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Bureau have arrested a Santa Maria man and seized a massive amount of various illegal drugs.
On Thursday at approximately 7 a.m., detectives served a search warrant at a residence in the 100 block of north Curryer Street. As a result of this warrant, detectives seized approximately 17,000 suspected counterfeit M30 fentanyl pills, 22.5 pounds of cannabis flower, 27 grams of MDMA or ecstasy, 218 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, three grams of cocaine and hundreds of acid tabs, according to Raquel Zick, the Sheriff’s Office public information officer.
Some of the narcotics were found in areas accessible to children who were residing in the residence, Ms. Zick said.
As a result, detectives arrested 21-year-old Victor Olivera-Hernandez and booked him at the Northern Branch Jail on suspicion of child cruelty (felony), unlawful possession of ammunition (felony) and possession of narcotics for sales (felony). He is being held on an enhanced bail of $250,000.
The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public that fentanyl is one of the leading killers when it comes to drug overdoses in Santa Barbara County. To learn more about the overdose crisis in the county, visit sbsheriff.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/CNA-Santa-Barbara-FINAL-Sheriff.pdf.
— Katherine Zehnder
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