State Route 144 runs from Route 101 at Milpas Street in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

, California to State Route 192 through the Sycamore Canyon.

Route description

Route 144 starts at Route 101's interchange with Milpas Street. The route heads northwest on Milpas, a conventional 4-lane thoroughfare. In less than four blocks, however, the route turns northeast on 'Mason Street, a two-lane residential street, passing by an elementary school and through a narrow bridge crossing the Sycamore Creek. Mason Street ends at Salinas Street; here, the route turns northwest onto Salinas Street, another two-lane street, until it reaches a traffic circle. From the circle, Route 144 continues north onto Sycamore Canyon Road, a winding two-lane road between steep hillsides. This final portion of the road leading to its junction with Route 192 has been closed indefinitely to both northbound and southbound traffic due to repetitive mudslides. Many in the local area consider the termination of this final portion of the road a tragedy, as it had been considered by most, to be one of the premiere legs of the foothills' rally.

History

In 1999, the state law was changed to permit the relinquishment of Route 144 to the City of Santa Barbara. This was because the City of Santa Barbara wished to do several improvements on Milpas Street. One of these improvements includes the installation of a roundabout

Roundabout

A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...

 at the off-ramp from northbound Route 101, which Caltrans did not approve of. The roundabout controls traffic coming from Milpas Street, Carpinteria Street, and two ramps from and to Route 101. It is a significantly larger and bolder version of the Salinas Street roundabout, though the latter channels five streets. Currently, the portion from Route 101 to the Salinas traffic circle has been relinquished to the city but the portion on Sycamore Canyon remains as a state highway.

Major intersections

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.

The entire route is in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

, Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County, California

Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...

.
{| class=wikitable
!Postmile

!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|0.00
|Milpas Street
|Continuation beyond US 101
|-
|0.00
|
|Interchange
|-
|0.89
|colspan=2 align=center|South end of state maintenance
|-
|1.95
|
|

External links

• Caltrans: Route 144 highway conditions
• California Highways: Route 144