Santa Barbara County residents account for a high number of crashes and driving under the influence arrests on Highway 154, according to statistics revealed at a special meeting focused on the roadway’s safety.
More than 100 people attended the Monday town hall at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Building, where participants included state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, Assemblymember Monique Limon, county Supervisors Joan Hartmann and Gregg Hart and three local mayors.
Also participating in the meeting were representatives of Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol from both the Santa Barbara and Buellton area offices.
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments board, a regional transportation agency, appointed the special committee last month and set the inaugural gathering for Monday night.
The community meeting focused on Highway 154 between Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley due to the number of deadly and critical injury crashes.
“Not only is it an extraordinarily beautiful ride, but it’s also an incredibly dangerous one,” Jackson said.
Approximately half, or 52 percent, of the collisions that occurred in 2018 were caused by Santa Barbara County residents, according to data presented Monday night.
Additionally, two-thirds of the people arrested by the CHP for driving under the influence in the entire Buellton area, which included Highway 154 north of Paradise Road, came from Santa Barbara County.
Likewise, 60 percent of the people arrested by the CHP for DUI in the entire Santa Barbara area, which includes Highway 154 south of Paradise Road, were from Santa Barbara County.
“So it’s on us to take responsibility to drive more safely and make sure our neighbors do as well,” Jackson said.
While traffic counts have increased about 5 percent from 2013 through 2017, the growth appears lower than seen on the other roads in the state where the average has shown a 10 percent rise in traffic volumes.
Some local residents doubted the statistics, however. They also called for studies showing where Highway 154 travelers were coming from and heading to as a way to better learn about the roadway’s users, amid suspicion the Chumash Casino Resort accounts for a significant portion of the traffic.
In the wake of a spate of tragedies on the highway, residents had called for various fixes, but speakers said many of those ideas would not improve safety. For instance, center divider barriers on two-lane roads typically pose more problems by increasing collisions, since they leave little room for drivers to correct their steering.
An audience member’s suggestion for a toll road prompted some applause from those in attendance Monday night. However, toll roads in the state don’t aim at keeping drivers off roads, but instead urge carpooling and traveling during off times.
Highway 154 improvements have included a 17-mile median rumble strip to alert drivers beginning to drift across the center line, with another five miles of rumble strip still planned.
Some $30 million in projects have seen the addition of passing lanes and other road improvements.
“As we have this discussion tonight, I hope you will keep in mind there has been progress made. Are we done? Absolutely not, but we have been moving toward that goal,” Jackson said.
Other smaller, but equally important efforts have been implemented. Caltrans recently has analyzed curves on Highway 154 to assess if proper signage and speed limits were in place, engineer Roger Barnes said.
Also, a special roadway friction surface treatment on five locations will be installed on sections of Highway 154, much like Caltrans has installed on Highway 101 near the Gaviota tunnel, Barnes added.
This effort, likened to sandpaper on the roadway, has been attributed to reducing collisions by 50 percent, he added.
Construction on this just-initiated project likely would start in 2022, Barnes added.
Caltrans also has plans to install a roundabout at Highway 154 and Edison/Baseline Avenue, and has just started moving toward improvements, such as an all-way stop sign, at Highway 154 and Roblar Avenue.
Other efforts have focused on getting mapping apps to encourage most drivers, especially truckers, to use Highway 101.
Barnes said a replacement has been ordered for a missing sign urging truck traffic to use Highway 101 and will be installed as soon as possible.
CHP officers hope to secure additional grant funding to beef up enforcement efforts on Highway 154 in addition to the education programs they also undertake in local communities.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.