The Montecito Fire Department has set up a substation in response to construction taking place just south of the community at a critical juncture.
County officials say the construction on San Ysidro Road is expected to take a couple of months, with a projected reopening date of August 22.
This temporary substation will help keep response times low when the Montecito Fire Department is called for help.
The closure of the San Ysidro overcrossing along with a widening project on Highway 101 through Montecito has affected traffic for many people.
“It’s chill most days, but a lot of days it can get really bad," Santa Barbara resident Tristan Savann said. "I go out to Ventura a lot because I have a lot of friends out there and sometimes it’s like an hour when it should be 25 or 26 minutes."
For local first responders that need to get through the area in the event of an emergency, Montecito Fire Chief Travis Ederer says adding this additional substation will help keep response times at a normal rate without increasing delays caused by traffic.
“The intent of this particular apparatus being stationed," Chief Ederer said, "is to cover the area in a timely manner that we can’t get to right now because of the San Ysidro overcrossing being closed."
A smaller engine — Engine 691 — that carries an estimated 260 gallons of water and will be operated by a crew of two firefighters will be the one redeployed in the needed area.
“It is primarily dedicated to the south of the 101 on the ocean side between say the Cabrillo or Hot Springs off-ramp on the north end," Chief Ederer said, "all the way to Sheffield or maybe even off the ramp on the south end.”
Engine 691, and the two firefighters staffing the engine, will be stationed in a parking lot along Hill Road adjacent to the Biltmore property. A temporary housing unit serving as the substation will be located there.
As the San Ysidro off-ramp currently remains closed, some drivers are finding other ways to maneuver through the area.
“Dramatically!" Santa Barbara resident Stan Roden said in response to how the closure affects him. "We live just south of the freeway near San Ysidro Road, so in order to get on the freeway going north, you have to drive south to avoid going through the villa.”
Chief Ederer says Caltrans hopes to complete construction on the San Ysidro off-ramp before the next school year begins — but his team is ready in case the project isn’t finished in time.
“Their goal is to open that overcrossing before school starts, for the obvious reasons, for school traffic,” Chief Ederer said. “We hope that that timeline’s met and if there’s going to be an extension then we’ll deal with that and reassess.”
The Montecito Fire Department will continue having its smaller fire engine patrol throughout the south of Highway 101 as construction continues on San Ysidro Road.
Officials with the department said in a press release that they respond to over 300 emergency calls per year in the area south of Highway 101. The engine will remain in place through August 22 as construction is completed.
