A stretch of Highway 1 near Vandenberg Village will get one immediate fix as a multiagency team focuses on the roadway following a number of fatal and other serious crashes.

Late last week, Caltrans announced a resurfacing project on the southbound lanes of Highway 1 south of Vandenberg Village with the work occurring this week.

The state agency also intends to hold a public meeting in the coming weeks to share other ideas for boosting safety on the road that has raised concerns.

Two segments of Highway 1, slightly 2 miles apart, have seen a number of bad crashes in recent years.

Most of the concern centers on the intersection of Highway 1 and Santa Lucia Canyon Road, a route leading to the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex plus Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Pine Canyon Gate or Lompoc entrance. The two-lane route also is an alternative to the south side of the Lompoc Valley. 

The other section, south of Constellation Road, has a curve, and most recently saw a two-vehicle collision that killed one driver and critically injured another the day before Christmas. 

While other areas north of Vandenberg Village have concrete dividers or a guardrail as the median, the segment south of Constellation has a dirt ditch, but nothing to stop vehicles crossing into opposite lanes.

This week’s high-friction surface treatment added to existing pavement aims to address a recent increase in wet weather traffic incidents, Caltrans said.

The sections of Highway 1 are heavily used as the primary route linking the Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys, plus Vandenberg SFB and the Lompoc Valley.

At an October meeting for a Santa Barbara County Association of Governments committee, Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson and Lompoc’s then-Mayor Jenelle Osborne pushed for improvements on the road, especially the intersection with Santa Lucia Canyon.

A month later, local residents supported an online petition demanding safety improvements at Santa Lucia Canyon Road. The petition suggested that a traffic signal is the solution, although hills and curves in the area make that an unlikely fix. The petition, available by clicking here, had 265 signatures as of Thursday.

More recently, officials from multiple county, state and federal agencies, including Vandenberg SFB leaders, met to discuss the need for safety improvements, especially at the Highway 1 and Santa Lucia Canyon intersection.

Officials discussed short- and long-term solutions to improve safety, including the possibility of blocking left turns from Santa Lucia Canyon Road onto Highway 1 or creating an interchange at the intersection. 

During this month’s SBCAG meeting, Nelson said a short-term solution mentioned by Caltrans could cause other issues.

Not allowing left turns from Santa Lucia onto Highway 1 would require drivers instead traveling the opposite direction to the Constellation Road offramp, where they exit the highway, turn left two times, and getting back on Highway 1 to head toward Santa Maria. 

“So I don’t know if that’s actually the answer. The only other answer they were talking was 20 or 30 years out, which is completely unacceptable,” Nelson said while asking for the topic to be discussed at an upcoming SBCAG meeting.

After meeting with Caltrans this week, Nelson told Noozhawk he is seeking long-term solutions to avoid any temporary fix becoming permanent.

Caltrans plans to hold a public meeting in the Lompoc/Vandenberg Village area in coming weeks, so engineers can provide information and seek support from the public on proposed modifications to enhance safety at the intersection of Highway 1/Santa Lucia Canyon Road. 

Agency representatives had not released meeting details as of Thursday. 

In addition to the alternating lane closures this week for the high friction treatment, the $461,000 project will require a one-day striping operation set for next week.