California State Route 144
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| State Route 144 |
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| Defined by S&HC ยง 444, maintained by Caltrans | |||||||||||||||||
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| Length: | 2 mi[1] (3 km) | ||||||||||||||||
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| South end: | Alameda Padre Serra in Santa Barbara | ||||||||||||||||
| North end: |  SR 192 in Santa Barbara |
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State Route 144 runs from Route 101 at Milpas Street in Santa Barbara, California to State Route 192 through the Sycamore Canyon.
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[edit] 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 repetitve 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.
[edit] 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 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.
