Left turns from Santa Lucia Canyon Road onto Highway 1 might be blocked as one solution to stop deadly crashes at the intersection between Lompoc and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

A Santa Barbara County Association of Governments committee focused on North County issues met Wednesday in Solvang and heard about the proposed improvements by Caltrans. Members also aired concerns that planned solutions could cause traffic troubles nearby.

Highway 1 at Santa Lucia Canyon Road is “the most dangerous intersection in the county, and I think the data support that,” Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson said.

Suggested solutions for immediate, near-and long-term projects followed a number of crashes that caused deaths and critical injuries. 

“I’m really happy that this is getting the attention that it finally needs to,” Nelson said. “I’m really sad that it’s taken a couple deaths. Our office has been reaching out to Caltrans for a couple years on this intersection, and it wasn’t until it finally reached a critical mass of public outcry that Caltrans decided to have a meeting.”

Caltrans plans to conduct a public engagement meeting at 6 p.m. March 12 at the Cabrillo High School cafeteria.

Solution Raises Concerns

The immediate fix would involve eliminating the left-turn option onto northbound Highway 1, while keeping access for emergency vehicles, with implementation by the fall.

That would force drivers to travel toward Vandenberg Village, get off the state highway at Constellation Road, go under the overpass and travel on county roads to get back on the highway going north. 

Caltrans representatives estimate axing the left-turn option could send 200 vehicles into Vandenberg Village during peak periods. 

“After the project is completed and closure is in place, we’ll be monitoring to ensure that there’s no negative impact on Constellation,” said Veronica Lezama, branch chief for regional planning with Caltrans District 5. 

Lompoc Mayor Jim Mosby said limiting drivers to making a right turn only could cause significant impacts.  

The onramp to access Highway 1 from Santa Lucia Canyon Road has a curve plus an incline so drivers need to accelerate quickly to join other vehicles traveling at least 65 mph. The angle for drivers checking traffic before merging onto Highway 1 also can be awkward, he noted.

In addition to passenger vehicles, traffic on the route can include those involved in the ag industry.

Mosby also expressed concern a left-turn ban could potentially impact an already congested Lompoc intersection — H Street and Central Avenue.

Near-, Long-Term Fixes Eyed

A proposed near-term solution would involve obtaining funding within three years to extend the right-turn lane on Highway 1 from Santa Lucia to ease efforts to merge onto the state route.

A long-term solution, taking 10 to 20 years, would involve evaluating the need for a larger project, such as an interchange. 

In the meanwhile, the California Highway Patrol has beefed up enforcement efforts in the area, according to Caltrans.

An analysis revealed 10 crashes occurred during a four-year period from 2018 to 2022 involving drivers turning left onto Highway 1 at Santa Lucia Road. One other crash involved a driver turning from Highway 1 onto Santa Lucia.

Nearly 60% of the crashes involved broadside collisions. 

Primary factors for the crashes included failure to yield to other vehicles, speeding and improper turning movement. Drunken or drugged driving accounted for 4.5%.

Efforts to solve the problem should not end with prohibiting left turns, Nelson said, adding the ban should be viewed as truly temporary while pushing for longer-term solutions. 

Ten to 20 years to complete a long-term project isn’t acceptable, he added.

“We need to talk about how do we accelerate that process,” Nelson said, adding the intersection needs to be added to the priority list for SBCAG and Caltrans. 

This would require creation of a study assessing needs, problems and more, SBCAG Executive Director Margie Kern said. 

“That’s really what needs to be done here to incorporate the bigger solutions,” Kern added. “It’s not just this intersection. It’s the whole Lompoc Valley and Vandenberg (SFB), and Vandenberg Village and looking at that holistically.”