Motorists needing to travel between Santa Barbara and Ventura counties will be able to do so today, when Highway 101 reopens one day sooner than anticipated, the California Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

Traffic will be limited to one lane heading north through La Conchita, however.

Caltrans also released new opening dates for the following highways:

• Highway 33 from Fairview Drive to Lockwood Valley Road will reopen Monday.
• Highway 126 from Fillmore to the Los Angeles County line will reopen Monday, about a week and a half sooner than originally projected.
• Highway 150 from the Santa Barbara County line to Santa Ana Road will remain closed until Jan. 25. A stretch of the highway from the Summit area in Upper Ojai to Thomas Aquinas College will be closed until April 11 while crews work to fill a 75-foot sinkhole that was created by the storms.

There is no estimate on when Grimes Canyon Road between Broadway and Fillmore will open.

The dates reflect the amount of time that is needed for crews to make a road completely secure for drivers, said Judy Gish, a Caltrans spokeswoman.

"We are doing everything we can to get those roads open as soon as possible," Gish said.

Also, Ventura County Transportation Commission officials said bus service between Ventura and Santa Barbara-Goleta will resume its normal schedule on Monday.

Reasons for keeping roads closed may not be apparent to motorists, Gish said. Maintenance crews have been assessing highways in Ventura County damaged by the storms and then make recommendations of how long the repairs might take.

"It's a matter of ensuring that it's 100 percent safe to drive on," Gish said.

Fillmore Councilman Ken Smedley had earlier criticized a need to keep Highway 126 closed until the end of the month. He said residents have been traveling on the highway without incident.

"I can't see any reason why it should be closed," he said.

Residents do have limited access across Highway 126. The California Highway Patrol is allowing buses operated by the Fillmore Unified School District to travel the highway, and all campuses will be open starting today. Piru School was the only school that didn't open Thursday, said Superintendent Mario Contini.

Buses won't be running on Guiberson Road and South Mountain Road west of San Cayetano Street.

Contini said campuses were operating well Thursday after the three-day shutdown.

Other schools affected by the road closures include UCSB, which hundreds of students were not able to reach this week, and Thomas Aquinas College, where classes have been canceled until next week.

Dozens of smaller roads across Ventura County remain closed because of storm damage, including Santa Ana Road, Matilija Road and Old Creek Road.

For information on road closures in Ventura County, call 388-4515. For highway closure information, call Caltrans at 1-800-427-7623.

-- Staff writer Kathleen Wilson contributed to this report.