All lanes reopened at Betteravia Rd Hwy 101 interchange in Santa Maria
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Good news for Santa Maria drivers and businesses, the City announced Tuesday that all lanes and highway ramps are now open at the Betteravia Road and Highway 101 interchange.
The project started back in June and the plan was to finish the $900,000 dollar project by the end of August. Crews ran into some minor delays with signals and electrical issues and coordinating with CalTrans.
Santa Maria drivers say they had to fill up on patience over the summer. Now, they’re cruising with peace of mind.
“It was actually kind of scary. I would try and avoid this whole intersection even if it took me another five to 10 minutes just to get to where I was starting at and ending at,” said one woman, discussing the summer construction. “I have to take my children and I have to take this intersection all the time and it helps me be a little more at ease now that it’s done,” she adds.
Officials say traffic flow improvements at the interchange, that sees tens of thousands of cars every day, were going to be in CalTrans plans at some point but the city saw a need due to Enos Ranch.
To improve traffic flow, the City added a second right-hand turn lane at the top of the southbound 101 off-ramp onto Betteravia Road, and extended the dual left-turn lanes along eastbound Betteravia Road to the northbound 101 on-ramp. New road surfaces, lane markings, and traffic signals are now in place.
“The addition of the left turn and taking away a right turn had an adverse effect as we saw the businesses, Lowe’s and Costco and others that developed over the last year,” said Eric Riddiough, Senior Civil Engineer for the City of Santa Maria.
Riddiough says the added right turn lane is huge to keep traffic moving.
“It’s not backing up all the way to Bradley anymore, it’s actually flowing through and people can get over a lot quicker,” said Riddiough.
Some commuters are thrilled that the construction has wrapped up and they’re seeing results.
“I don’t feel like I’m going to run into the back of a car at the last minute,” said Jolene Waymire of Santa Maria. “It will avoid a lot of accidents,” she adds.
Others say they don’t really notice a difference.
“The hardest thing is when you have to make that left-hand turn, you got cars that don’t know where they’re supposed to go and they’re coming off the freeway, they should’ve focused on painting a line,” said Chris Everaid of Santa Maria.
Officials are asking drivers to be aware of the changes as the project reaches its final destination.
Over the next couple of weeks, you may notice crews finishing up some minor electrical work and landscaping.
The project was funded by the sales tax revenues from Measure A and Local Surface Transportation Program (LSTP) funds.
