Highway 154, which stretches from Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez, is expected to reopen this evening after being closed for repairs for over a month.

Colin Jones, Caltrans spokesman, said the highway will open at approximately 6 p.m., weather permitting. For the next month, traffic will be controlled by flagmen Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Fridays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the last of the repairs are completed. Jones said the highway will be fully open at all other times.

“You use reverse one-way traffic control on a two-lane highway,” Jones said. “You stop one lane to flag the other through and then switch at five- to 10-minute intervals.”

During those times, Jones said, motorists should allow more time for the commute because the alternating traffic could create slight delays.

Jones said the highway has been closed since Jan. 8 due to storm damage.

“A huge part of the road collapsed, and a lot of rock that fell from the hillside damaged the pavement,” Jones said.

Since the storm, repair crews have been working to rebuild two heavily damaged sections of the highway.

“We’ve had our crews out there working around the clock, seven days a week, 12 hours a day, from dawn to dusk,” Jones said.