If you’ve ever driven through Pismo Beach along Highway 101, you’ve probably noticed traffic can get congested when you’re heading south.
Local leaders say one project that recently broke ground could eventually make your commute a little easier.
Dee Gore can see Highway 101 from her kitchen window in Shell beach.
“It's very congested at certain times of the day," Gore said. "If you live here, you know when to get onto 101.”
Work has started on a project aimed at changing that. Once complete, a new five-mile-long lane will be open daily from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. between Avila Beach Drive and just past Price Canyon Road.
SLOCOG’s Transportation Planner Steven Hanamaikai is working on the project.
“This is been one of the most congested segments of 101 in our county for quite some time and it's only been growing, especially during those summer peak seasons when we got a lot of tourism coming in," Hanamaikai said.
Plans for the Five Cities Multimodal Transportation Network Enhancement Project, or the Five Cities Project, have been in the works since 2014 as part of a larger bundle of projects, including the recently completed Avila Beach roundabout.
Hanamaikai said the 101 project is expected to cost about $85 million dollars.
“A huge portion of that came from the transportation California Transportation Commission for this project, about $65 million for construction and with the remaining coming from SLOCOG discretionary funds," he said.
The project is a result of the collaboration between the San Luis Obispo council of governments, the city of Pismo Beach, Caltrans and others. SLOCOG member and County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said all 7 cities in SLO County saw the need.
“We have the tourism, 7 million tourists, we have all of our commercial goods coming in and out, and then we have a workforce," Ortiz-Legg said. "It's an economic, significant piece of infrastructure.”
Work is set to be finished around 2028. In the meantime, Hanamaikai said the traffic may be worse before it gets better, especially for the Pismo Preserve overflow parking areas.
“They're definitely, going to be some impacts on parking at the preserve, in the near term," Hanamaikai said. "But that will be open up again beginning probably in January 2027. So hopefully we can limit the impacts as much as we can.” `
For now, construction is focused between Price street and Mattie Road.
