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Lights! Action! (No Camera) Caltrans installs glitzy highway signs on Highway 101 in Santa Barbara

Caltrans has new color message signs next to Highway 101 at two spots in Santa Barbara.
Caltrans
Caltrans has new color message signs next to Highway 101 at two spots in Santa Barbara.

Unlike traditional signs, they will display messages in full color.

Caltrans is getting a bit flashy in its efforts to keep people informed about traffic conditions on some South Coast highways.

It’s installed new electronic message boards on northbound Highway 101 near the Highway 154 interchange and the northbound Highway 101 Pueblo Street offramp.

But, unlike traditional message boards, they can display messages in full color, instead of the traditional yellow lettering coloring. They new boards also have increased brightness levels. The goal is to make messages more noticeable and impactful.

The signs will be used for everything from messages about highway closures to weather alerts for people wanting to use Highway 154 to travel over San Marcos Pass.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.