Stretch of Hwy. 101 in Pismo Beach has notoriously bad traffic. Is relief finally on the way?

Caltrans has the go-ahead to add a part-time lane to southbound Highway 101 in Pismo Beach — an area of the highway famous for afternoon traffic jams.

“The primary purpose of doing this project is to alleviate travel delay,” Caltrans project manager Paul Valadão said.

On Thursday afternoon, the California Coastal Commission voted 7-2 to approve a coastal development permit for the project, with commissioners Mike Wilson and Linda Escalante dissenting.

Caltrans will widen the inside shoulder of southbound Highway 101 to build a part-time travel lane from just north of Monte Road to just before Frady Lane, the staff report said.

Caltrans will open the lane for use from 2 to 7 p.m. every day in an effort to alleviate traffic, Valadão said.

The lane will have a single entry point on the north and a single exit point at the southern end. The California Highway Patrol will allow drivers to enter the lane every 15 minutes, he said.

During regular traffic periods, the lane will be converted back to a shoulder of the highway.

The only other part-time travel lane in California is located in the Bay Area, where the westbound lane of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge has a lane that opens during the afternoon, Coastal Commission staff member Eric Stevens said.

“Caltrans believes that the part-time lane successfully alleviates peak traffic on this bridge and seeks to employ a similar project here,” Stevens said.

Caltrans applied to build the project in partnership with the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments.

Construction will occur from April 2025 to March 2027, the staff report said.

“We’ll be able to streamline traffic flow for both residents and visitors alike, helping reduce the bottlenecks that have affected our local roads for years,” Pismo Beach city manager Jorge Garcia said. “This means less time in traffic and more time enjoying the beauty of our coastal town, whether you’re commuting for work or taking a weekend trip to our beaches.”

Caltrans efforts to offset greenhouse gas emissions

Operating the part-time lane for five hours per day will increase vehicle traffic on the highway during those hours by 6% in 2026 and 12% by 2046, Stevens said.

Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 8% in 2026 and 10% by 2046 due to the new lane, he said.

Caltrans also attributed the increase in vehicle miles traveled to population growth and traffic that currently avoids Highway 101 during rush hour, he said.

To mitigate the increase in vehicle use and greenhouse gas emissions, Caltrans will build a new park-and-ride mobility hub near the Price Street off-ramp, Stevens said.

The hub will include 37 parking spaces, a transit stop, bike parking, shade trees and electric vehicle charging stations, the staff report said.

Additionally, Caltrans pledged to make multi-modal transportation improvements along the highway, Frontage Road and Shell Beach Road. Caltrans also hoped to connect the end of the Shell Beach Road path to the Bob Jones Trail, he said.

Some of the commissioners were concerned about the greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the extra vehicles on the highway — even with the mitigation measures.

Commissioner Linda Escalante noted that all vehicles — electric or gas-powered — shed other types of pollution like microplastics and heavy metals. She wanted the commission to focus on alternative forms of transportation, not widening a highway — which would make driving more convenient.

“Congestion itself serves as a signal to people to reduce their (vehicle miles traveled) and get out of their cars and look for alternatives,” she said. “If you build some sort of multi-modal and leave it there, but you still widen the freeways, people, of course, are going to still prefer to use the freeways.”

Like Escalante, Commissioner Justin Cummings was concerned about emissions, but thought it was important to approve projects that reduce traffic while other forms of alternative transportation are developed.

“Before we get to that point where we have all electric vehicles and everybody has other forms of transportation, one of the worst things we can have are people sitting and idling for long periods of time,” he said. “While people are sitting, they’re still emitting all that CO2 and they’re not moving as quickly and getting the car off the road as if they weren’t idling.”

The commission conditioned its approval of the project on Caltrans completing the aforementioned mitigation projects and monitoring the project’s impact on vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions when it is in use, Stevens said.

After seven years of operating the part-time lane, Caltrans must apply to the commission for a new coastal development permit to continue operating it.