The two-lane Antelope Grade segment of Highway 46 East is being converted into a four-lane expressway.
$35 million in funds from the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) have been allocated to expand a 1.3-mile stretch of the road (Phase 1).
Dennis Johnson drives for a living and travels along Highway 46 at least twice a week. He recalls sitting in traffic on the two-lane stretches of road.
“The truck traffic was really bad. You’d get there and be like, now I just gotta sit and wait, and other cars, they’d just like wanna try and run around you,” Johnson said.
Jack Hamblin frequently takes this road on his way home from visiting Pismo Beach.
“It’s just a little narrow between where 46 and 41 come together,” Hamblin said. “People try to pass and they drive too fast.”
“Giving us more lanes to go up over that pass will be a lot better,” Johnson added.
Phase 1 of the Antelope Grade project will convert Highway 46 to four lanes all the way to the San Luis Obispo/Kern County line.
$70 million is still needed to expand the remaining 2.3 miles of the Antelope Grade. The remaining 2.3 miles is referred to as Phase 2.
